The Way I Do
by Cpt-s-america129
Summary: My version of post-canon Evo!verse. Starts with the first time Rogue and Remy see each other after Cajun Spice and goes from there. Basically if there's a cool comic plot or evo headcanon involving Rogue/Remy I've thought about? It's in my outline for this fic. Enemies to friends to lovers slowburn (though the enemies part is mostly flashbacks). Lotsa fluff. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

Firstly, this is my first Rogue/Gambit fic and only the second fic I've published. I hope there's something in it you enjoy. I've had a lot of fun trying to put everything together. I have most to all of the story I want to tell plotted out and I'm gonna attempt to post regularly.

Also, I want y'all to know I know I come off a little hard on Scott here, but he's gonna grow and learn over time. He's a very stressed out boy who's taking leadership too seriously, but rest assured I love him still and I'm not someone who enjoys characters being bashed. This is a Romy with majority to most focused on Rogue/Remy and their character/relationship development, but I'm not laser focused on that enough to forget the other characters. Worry ye not. Scott'll get there.

Lastly, I am terrible at writing accents. As much as I would like to deliver on that for y'all, I'm hoping you guys will be able to hear them in your mind as you read without needing to see them written out completely phonetically.

Thanks to thehazeofdusk for all the fun fandom talk and getting me pumped to actually be brave enough to post this? :D

**Chapter 1**

Another early morning, another killer Danger Room session.

It seemed to Rogue that Danger Room sessions should have become _less_ terrible and strenuous when Scott took over running the sessions from Logan. She scoffed to herself as she barely dodged another fireball thrown directly at her. Clearly, she'd assumed wrong and they sucked even harder. At least Logan's training sessions usually aimed to teach a lesson...

As official senior team leader (now that he'd graduated high school) Scott had taken it upon himself to amp up the intensity in every way, much to everyone's chagrin. In his exuberance to prove himself worthy of leading the X Men, Scott had become a whole new level of unbearable when it came to any official team matters. If she had to hear him talk one more time about how he wanted each and every one of them to "be the best me you can be!", Rogue was pretty sure even she would clock him. And Jean, who Rogue was 100% certain Scott's new motto had come from.

Rogue knew Scott well enough to see how stressed and worried he was about living up to a standard he thought everyone was holding him to, but this was getting ridiculous. Scott was pushing his team to levels that even Logan wouldn't have during training-it was too much for the team to sustain long term without injury or mutiny. Personally, Rogue was about ready for the mutiny option. The best Scott was aiming to be was clearly a nightmare and they were struggling to reach for his expectations. Rogue had never thought she'd be wishing Logan would come back to train their team instead of the New Recruits, but here she was. Upon waking up that morning, she'd almost had a beautiful, blissful moment of forgetting she was preparing for training under Cyclop's leadership, instead of a Logan session. Until he came in to brief the team on their mission today. Rogue remembered previously choosing Iron Back Survival Camp over training with Logan...Scott's tenacity made both options sound like summer camp.

Even Jean had seemed to finally show her concern that morning when the senior members of the X Men had walked in to train and found the same exact simulation that had been kicking their ass for the past five days. Apparently, they _were _going to keep running the same simulation over and over until they finally succeeded and learned whatever lesson Scott was trying to teach them. That or Scott just really loved the educational value of Capture the Flag.

Again, Rogue dodge-rolled from blast of fire headed straight for her, finding herself crouched behind some simulated crates. She rolled her eyes. As if sims of the Brotherhood and every other mutant Scott could think of wasn't enough, apparently he had brought new sims into the session to defend the flag.

Starting with Pyro.

Great.

She moved along the crates, crouched for cover and trying to think of a way to take out Pyro quickly. Unfortunately Scott's sims were very accurate and Pyro was one to shoot fire first, fight with fists second. Not something she could fight against very well without using her powers (something she was fairly certain Scott was trying to get her to do-and because of that something she was absolutely refusing to do). Hand to hand combat was out unless she could get rid of the source of his fire.

Luckily the problem was solved for her as she heard a yelp from Pyro's voice and assumed Jean or Kurt had decided to take on Pyro. Worked for her. She'd prefer to take on whatever sim Scott threw at them next. For the most part, there were very few sims Rogue felt like she couldn't take out without using her powers, something that seemed to eternally frustrate Scott but she was pretty sure made Logan proud. Apparently avoiding her powers for a few weeks after Apocalypse had been defeated had been too much time for Scott, let alone the five months it had actually been.

Rogue had come to a point where the crates were stacked higher and she felt covered enough to stand and peak around the corner, checking who had what under control and if Kitty was still succeeding in finding the damn flag. They'd planned on distracting Scott (and his simulations) enough that she could sneak around and finally find the flag so they could end this cycle of repeating the same thing over and over until Scott was satisfied. With Scott up above in the control room it wasn't an easy task, but they were running out of ideas.

She was able to see it was indeed Jean who had taken on fighting the fake Pyro. Kurt was distracting another simulation, apparently having drawn the short straw and having to deal with Sabretooth. That meant, if Scott was only picking from the current Acolyte line up per usual, Kitty and Rogue probably had Colossus left to deal with. Magneto's team had been down a member since Mardi Gras (not that Rogue was going to focus too long on that fact, because why should she care) so unless Scott was going to pull out Magneto himself, there was no option other than Colossus or a wildcard. All things considered, Colossus was not the worst to be stuck fighting. She'd noticed that Colossus, although incredibly intimidating and strong, tended to pull punches in most fights and preferred to defend instead of attack. Not exactly what you'd expect from a guy who worked with a ruthless leader like Magneto, but Rogue appreciated it in the context of this Danger Room session as well as whenever she was up against him in the field.

She managed to catch Kitty's eye across the room, her head sticking out from a wall taking in the spectacle they were faced with. Rogue gave a quick nod, signalling to her team-mate that she could handle whoever Scott threw at her and that Kitty should just keep looking for the flag Scott had hid somewhere in the Danger Room. If Rogue, Kurt, and Jean could keep Scott distracted long enough by putting up a good fight against Scott's chosen fighters, they could buy Kitty enough time to phase through any barriers, get the damn flag, and end the simulation so Scott would let this go and they wouldn't have to do the same exact thing tomorrow. Kitty rolled her eyes and nodded back, sinking back into the wall behind her.

At that, Rogue heard a slight creak behind her and turned just in time to see out of the corner of her eye a figure come flying down from the crates above her. A bit out of character for Colossus, but somewhat expected for Magneto. _Awesome_. Taking out the master of magnetism was _just _the way Rogue wanted to start her day...

At least Magneto (or Colossus) had snuck up on Rogue instead of Kitty, allowing Rogue to be a distraction and giving the smaller girl a better chance of ending the sim quick. Rogue sighed and prepared herself in a defensive position, whipping around ready to face either the metal giant or Magneto only to be met with neither and instead come face to face with the cocky grin of Remy LeBeau.

She was sure she physically felt her brain's gears stop and restart in shock, blinking dumbly up at the face she hadn't seen since February. Although she probably hadn't physically stopped for more than a second or three, she felt frozen in the moment with him grinning down at her, infuriatingly invading her personal space just like the real Gambit would. He was just a simulation and she hadn't seen his face outside her memories in eight months, but she could still almost smell the swamp water around them from when last she'd seen him, could almost feel the warmth of his hand around hers from that day, could almost remember the way his face had looked when -

She minutely shook her head, trying to put herself back in the present moment. Vaguely she recognized Gambit getting into a fighting position but instead of doing the same she whipped around, looking upwards to the control room where she knew Scott was watching from.

Her eyes narrowed in Scott's direction as she barked out "Rogue, Emergency Code 331. Stop the simulation!"

Immediately upon her code, the simulation around her dissolved, fake Gambit and his annoying grin with it. Through the haze of her heart beating and anger roaring in her ears, Rogue distantly heard whines from Kurt and Kitty exclaiming something about being _this close_ to the flag and "what gives, Rogue?". Without stopping to explain or letting any of her teammates stop her, she marched straight to the doors, slamming her hand on the button to open them and jamming her thumb into the correct button to take her right up to Scott Summers and give him a piece of her mind.

* * *

When the elevator reached the correct floor, Rogue paid no mind to the numerous younger mutants gathered around taking notes as they watched the Danger Room simulation and stormed right past them over to Scott, who was standing by the controls.

"Scott, what the hell?" she demanded, jabbing his chest with her finger, hand on her hip.

If she hadn't known him better, she wouldn't have seen a small amount of guilt flicker across his features before his business-like Cyclops persona came to the forefront. His jaw hardened and he didn't back down from her glare. "Language. And I don't know what you mean," he said as he busied himself looking at the control panel beside him.

Rogue rolled her eyes incredulously, leaning back on her heels and crossing her arms over her chest. "...seriously? Language?"

Scott's cheeks flushed slightly under her visor, but he seemed determined to remain in the "team leader" mindset. When he spoke, he sounded nothing but confident and authoritative. "Younger students are in the room. Watch your language. And we're training as X men right now. You know to call me Cyclops." There was a slight sound behind her that Rogue assumed was Bobby trying to protest being called "young" before someone else shut him up.

Rogue rolled her eyes again and frowned up at him. "Oh, whatever. You know that ain't what I'm talking about, Scott."

He continued to stare back at her stoically, apparently refusing to contemplate or admit he'd crossed a line. For a brief moment, she wanted to consider that maybe he _didn't _understand why she was upset, but the longer he glared back at her, the less she was able to give him any credit right now. A muscle in his jaw jumped upon hearing her refusal to call him Cyclops, but he didn't comment at first, just glared back at Rogue and tried to change the subject. "Emergency Codes are for emergencies only, Rogue. You know better."

"Don't you dare try to play this game with me, Scott," she nearly spat his name out.

Normally Rogue felt she would be among the first to defend Scott in his new leadership role, after Jean. She knew he was nervous and trying to do his best to move into this new role the Professor had given him, but right now wasn't "normally". He'd picked the wrong line to cross. "Gambit hasn't been with Magneto's team for months. He's probably still off in New Orleans and he's never comin' back." If he didn't show up for Apocalypse, he was as good as gone from their lives forever, she thought to herself somewhat bitterly. "There was no reason for you to put him in that session."

"Of course there was," Cyclops replied, his tone all business.

She was so livid her face felt like it was on fire. "Oh, really? And what would that be, _Scott_?"

"This," he gestured to her as he spoke. "It got a reaction out of you. It threw you off your game," he turned to speak not only to her, but also apparently to continue whatever lesson he'd been teaching to the younger students. "The Danger Room is about preparing us for the world out there and you're not going to learn anything new if you're not challenged with new things." Rogue scoffed as Scott continued and turned back to look her square in the face. "Hand to hand combat is only going to get you so far and you needed to be put up against someone you would have to use your powers on. We both know Gambit's fighting skills are off the charts even without his powers and that means to win you'd have to use your powers for once."

She opened her mouth, already ready to give Scott a piece of her mind, but he cut her off before she could even start.

"If you never practice using your powers, you're going to be completely unprepared the next time you _have _to use them out in the field. On top of that, you froze, Rogue. You need to be prepared to deal with anything out there - no matter how surprising - and if you would use your powers instead of looking for every way possible to not use them, maybe you wouldn't have frozen just now and needed to end the sim instead of just fighting Gambit." Scott's tone had become a little too smug for Rogue's liking and she found her cheeks warm uncomfortably in embarrassment rather than anger this time, her voice uncharacteristically caught in her throat and unable to stop Scott's monologue. "You and I both know that if he ever comes back Gambit's not going to care enough to let you react or decide if you should use your powers or not. He's an Acolyte: not a good guy by any stretch. He's going to follow orders and take you out, regardless of however he acted when he _took you_ to New Orleans," Scott said, putting an emphasis on the word "took" that brought all of Rogue's anger roaring back to her cheeks. Rogue opened her mouth again to tear Scott a new one, but before she could the Professor's voice floated through her mind.

"_All Senior X Men please report to the hanger immediately. Junior X Men and New Recruits please return to your rooms and prepare yourselves for school today. Mr. Logan would also like to remind you to bring the notes you took over the senior team's training session to your Danger Room session after school."_

Rogue recognized hearing Bobby groan about being sent back upstairs with the younger kids, but her eyes never left Scott's. His face was serious and calm, but the firm set of his jaw still said he felt he was 100% in the right.

"I don't care whatever lesson you think you've taught me, Scott. That was a dick move and I thought you were a better leader and friend than that." She whipped back around and started to storm back towards the elevator to go down to the hanger, doing her best to not pay attention to Scott moving quickly behind her.

As the elevator doors closed, so fell the look of authority on Scott's face, although still not showing even a little of the guilt Rogue felt he should be feeling. Instead of the fearless leader Cyclops who was always in charge and not willing to admit fault, in his place was just her friend Scott. Still just as self righteous, but more likely to stop and listen to other's points of view, she'd always felt. Up until now, she suspected. "Rogue-"

"Don't, Scott. I cain't believe you would try to play mind games with me just to get me to use my powers." As little as she would ever want to admit it, the subject of Gambit always left her more confused than before, often tongue tied where normally she would be comfortable speaking (or yelling) freely. She'd hoped some part of Scott (the part that was her friend) would have understood that, thrown her some slack, and maybe decided against throwing the Cajun into a training session, especially with no notice.

Scott ran his hand through his dark hair, frustrated. "You've gotta start using them more, Rogue. Your powers-you...you're useful to the team whether you like it or not. I know you're probably scared of yourself after Apocalypse and the psyches trying to take over, but I'm just trying to help you live up to your potential. You're stronger than the psyches you absorb and as soon as you realize that, you can go back to using your powers to help the team."

"I can't believe you're actin' like that was completely okay down there! I recall hearing about a certain guy freakin' out when I was thrown in as a sim in a danger room session before I joined the X Men." Scott's face flushed. "Where's that guy? _He's _the one I want as my leader. The guy who cares about his team and the people around him more than being a hardass and some perfect soldier."

"That was different."

She locked eyes with him, feeling the flush of anger rush through her freshly. "How?"

"I knew you were a good person. You were scared and confused and you hadn't kidnapped any of us or done any of us real harm. I knew you could potentially be a friend and maybe even a team member in the future."

Rogue narrowed her eyes, voice quieting. "I told you, Gambit didn't kidnap me."

Scott had the audacity to scoff at her. "Oh yeah, you just left your friends and family to take off with some guy you barely know who works with the bad guys," he said sarcastically. "And he totally wanted you to stay around once you used your powers to help him too." he finished, each word feeling like a sharp jab in her stomach.

"He never made me use my powers to help him," she said, voice even lower. The statement felt inadequate, but also entirely important to say out loud. And it was true. Despite the fact that Gambit had definitely hoped she would use her powers and had put her in situations where she would likely choose to use her powers, he never pushed her to do so or even once asked her to. He'd never backed her into a corner and given her no other option _but _using her powers, which she knew from the brief time his psyche had been in her head had actually been on purpose. Yes, her finding the Ripper's base was necessary for his plan to succeed, but he'd apparently drawn a line for himself at straight up asking her to absorb his enemy's memories and had instead chosen to put them in a situation where she could unknowingly choose to get the information the easy way, or he would have back-up if he needed to get it the hard way. Weirdly, he'd been completely intentional in letting her make her own choices whenever he could on that trip, even if he'd withheld information and not been as upfront as she'd have wished he'd been.

"Yet you used them to help him anyway."

She knew she had many reasons to feel defensive, but she still didn't want to think too much about why she had been trying so hard to defend Gambit since she returned from New Orleans. She felt confused enough her choice to stubbornly refuse to call their time anything but a "trip" to everyone who had needed to know the story upon her return. After one day of thinking about it far too long, she'd been able to conclude that she'd understood what had pushed him to such desperate measures, as well as why he hadn't just asked her for help and that was going to have to be a good enough reason to keep him from being labeled a kidnapper for now. No one needed to know the whole story and the fact that the puzzle pieces hadn't shown that picture from the start. "He asked for help. I helped him. That's what X Men do, Scott. He's not a terrible person."

Scott's cheeks flushed again as the elevator hit the bottom floor, a dinging sound signifying the doors about to open. "He asked for your help so he could use your powers and you let him. Funny, really because you refuse to live up to your full potential and be useful to help the team."

The elevator doors opened and Scott turned as if to walk out, but seemed to think better of that and looked back at her. "Besides that, if he isn't a terrible guy like you say, why didn't he show up for Apocalypse? You were the one who apparently had his number and called him, but I don't seem to remember him taking the time to even make up an excuse for why he bailed on, oh I don't know. Saving the world from the literal Apocalypse." He then strode out, apparently feeling like he'd said all he needed to on the subject.

Rogue knew on some level he was right. Not about Gambit being a bad guy, but about her powers. She couldn't avoid using her powers for forever. But wasn't it better for her to be able to defend herself without her mutant ability and only use her powers as a last resort? And was it a crime for her to enjoy being the only one in her head again for a short while? Her powers weren't a game to be played around with, which Scott just didn't seem to understand-or he could just think it was a game worth the risk. Easy to think when you don't have to deal with the fallout. She sighed and blew her bangs out of her eyes as she walked after him, keeping distance between her and Scott but still headed to the hanger bay.

Even if Scott was right on a small level, she still couldn't fight the discomfort over Scott talking about how useful her powers were to the team. She knew why she the word "useful" was leaving a sour taste in her mouth and she resolutely refused to think about a pair of red on black eyes flashing as a warm honey voice told her he understood how it felt to be valued only for how useful her and her powers could be. That he had sympathy and understanding for the path life had led her down, because life had led him down a parallel path.

She immediately tried to stop that train of thought in its tracks, as she tried to do with every thought that led back to him. It wasn't like he would be sitting around thinking about her. Clearly. Their impromptu trip south probably wasn't anything special-he'd probably done something similar dozens of times. Despite the fact that deep down (okay, from the faint whispers of his psyche when she'd gotten home from their trip and had a chance to think everything through) she knew he'd also felt like she understood him back, she kept trying to remind herself neither of them owed the other anything and she certainly didn't think it was a possibility that he would find his way back to Bayville for a catch up some day. Why would he? Understanding was one thing, but friendship was another and she found it unlikely he would actually see her as a friend.

And technically, although she was loathe to admit it, Scott was kind of right. He wasn't coming back and their trip didn't make Gambit her friend. He had slipped her that stupid Queen of Hearts card in New Orleans and promised her she had people looking out for her, but that didn't mean it was anything more than a gesture of good faith or a thank you for coming back for his sorry ass. Although a month after New Orleans, she'd walked into her room to find a shadow on her balcony and had stupidly let herself believe that maybe he did consider himself a friend and maybe he was back, she'd squashed the thought as quickly as possible when the shadow disappeared as soon as she reached the balcony door. It had to have been him, she knew when she looked down and saw what the shadow had left behind, but he hadn't stuck around for any pleasantries. That or maybe her eyes had been playing tricks on her and he hadn't seen her coming and decided he didn't care enough to actually stick around and say hi to her face for his delivery.

On the balcony floor he'd left her backpack, a little worse for the wear but still in one piece. Why he hadn't just chucked it was beyond her. It had been even more confusing for her when she'd looked inside. inside the backpack still sat her planner, her french homework (completed with some creative translations she would never admit had made her laugh, except when her french teacher hadn't appreciated them when she turned in the assignment a month late with different handwriting), and tucked in neatly between them, a new Queen of Hearts card, this time with a phone number scrawled in the same messy handwriting. None of that meant he was planning on staying in contact with her or that he had to be on friendly terms with her. Sure he was making a small amend by bringing the backpack back, but they were still technically on enemy teams as far as she knew. Just because they'd helped each other once, it didn't mean they were suddenly besties. Still, despite all of that, she'd stupidly thought that the second card had been some sort of reassurance from him. Although she would never admit it outloud, she'd thought it meant if she ever really needed help she should call him (either as a way to make up for what he'd done or, maybe, as a sign he actually did want to look out for her as he'd alluded to in New Orleans), but when she'd actually used it and called to ask him to come help take down Apocalypse, he hadn't responded at all.

Damn it. She needed to stop thinking about the stupid Swamp Rat.

* * *

"Don't forget, this is just a recon mission. I don't want any fighting unless necessary. If Magneto and his team really are out there and if they want a fight, let them start it. You finish it," Wolverine growled. He glared out the window, sniffing out what could be there. "Alright then Cyke, ready to play team leader?"

Scott cleared his throat, preparing to lead the mission. He was trying to have his "in charge" demeanor, but Rogue could see underneath the same nervous energy Scott had right before a big test. It was still fairly recently Scott had stepped up and Wolverine was clearly enjoying frazzling his nerves as often as possible. Rogue couldn't stop herself from thinking that maybe today, he deserved to get a little frazzled after the crap he pulled with her (and the entire team in the Danger Room). "Shadowcat, you and Jean go scout the north end. Nightcrawler, you and I are going to go south. Rogue, you're going to take care of the docks in the east. There's plenty of cover and you can radio for Nightcrawler if you need assistance."

Assignments given, the team turned on their communicators and took off in their respective paths. Rogue wasn't much surprised by the groupings, nor the fact that Scott felt she would work best in this situation away from everyone (well...that she would work best in every team situation off on her own). Part of her liked the fact that the others knew she could handle herself, but another part she chose to shove down could feel a bitter taste in her mouth over the fact that this was just the norm. She wasn't called the Rogue for nothing, but in moments like this, she sometimes felt a slight pang run through her for her old partner. She understood Spyke's reasoning for leaving the team (more than anyone else on the team, really), but it had been somewhat of a comfort when the team had even numbers, guaranteeing her some back up and not having to go into a situation like this blind to what could be out there _and _alone with only a communicator as her back up. That and she and Spyke had generally gotten on fine, so his company had been almost welcome to her, as long as he wasn't on a rant about the latest skateboard move he was mastering.

She wasn't so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the feeling of being watched, but she was surprised it had probably taken her a little too long to catch that she was being followed because she'd been off in her own brain, overthinking. Stupid Scott and his stupid ego getting her stupid stuck in her stupid head.

Rogue tensed her body, prepared for a fight. She mentally ticked through the list of Acolytes. Colossus she could handle, although he wasn't the type to stalk his prey before fighting them. She had a clear feeling of being herded into a corner which meant Magneto was out too. Pyro could have gained some subtlety since last she'd fought him, but she doubted it. That meant she'd drawn the shortest possible straw on this mission and most likely she was going to be stuck facing down Sabretooth. She groaned to herself and worked to subtly remove a glove. If she was going be fighting Sabretooth, she was pretty much going to _have _to use her powers. Not fun in the moment or for the next week of him snarling throughout her head, but better than having her ass handed to her (or worse, considering she knew Sabretooth didn't have many qualms about ripping someone in his way to shreds).

She put her back to a pile of crates, looking all around as discreetly as possible trying to not let Sabretooth know she was on to him. Granted, it didn't do much and he probably was laughing at her attempts to keep cool, but it did make her feel a little better to have one side protected a little. She continued to inch along the crates, hoping for the path between the crates to open up to a wider more open area, better for a fight. In the small area between the crates she was in right now, she couldn't dodge as easily and buy for time until Kurt or Logan could come help her. She took a deep stabilizing breath, each second feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise more and more. She couldn't hear a single sound or spot any movement and Rogue hated that she felt like a mouse being played with by a cat before it pounced. She almost wished Sabretooth would just get on with it already and attack: it wasn't like him to _not _attack a teenager on their own with no backup. It was odd and made her feel even more on edge. Almost immediately at that thought, she saw a shadow leap over the crates, landing swiftly in front of her ready to fight.

She blinked.

He grinned.

She could only blink again before finally realizing she wasn't hallucinating. Her eyes narrowed. Almost as if he'd been summoned by Scott's simulation earlier that morning, who was standing in front of her, insufferable smirk and all, but none other than Remy Fucking LeBeau.


	2. Chapter 2

Firstly, hello people across all three platforms I'm on who stopped by for comments or gave kudos! Thank you so much, y'all really made my day every time I saw a new comment come in. You guys were all so kind and I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know you enjoyed the first chapter :) I'm coming at this as someone who used to write a lot for fun in high school (although never fanfic) and now at 29 I'm trying to rediscover and enjoy the hobbies I used to love so much. Growing up kind of took away the time for me to do fun stuff, so I decided to challenge myself to write the fic I'd been thinking of in my head for forever and i'm glad you guys are wanting to read it too.

Huge thanks again to thehazeofdusk- our convos are really inspiring me to write lots and I super appreciate you taking the time to read some chapters ahead of time and help me sort out a few things I'd been stumbling over :D (and also for all the encouragement)

So as a quick note, I love the evo specific parts of Romy, so I want them to be themselves in this universe even though i love almost all different versions of them...but yeah it I've immediately ditched Remy's bowl cut. there is an in story reason why it happened though (outside of Remy hating the bowl cut, like pretty much everyone ever). You'll find out exactly why with Rogue a couple few chapters down the road. And by a couple few it's gonna be a little bit. But there _is_ a reason outside of "I hate his hair and need to change it now".

I hope the accents are written in a way where you can hear them well enough. I did my best! Haha I'm not super comfortable with French so I'm going with the method of "keep it simple" and trying to only use it (for now) when it can be understood by context clues.

**Chapter 2**

"Aw, _chère_, don't tell me y' missed me so much I got y' speechless."

Well _that_ was enough to snap her out of her shock.

Everything she'd thought of saying if she ever saw him again apparently went out of her brain and into the trash the second their eyes met. She took a casual, deep breath, trying to center herself without him noticing. Her chest felt tight and for a brief second, she could only think to herself that there was no way he could actually be standing right in front of her after all the months of radio silence.

"Yeah, right, Gambit," she moved herself into a defensive position, forcing herself to look directly into his unique eyes and not flinch away. She could hardly believe he was right in front of her like his sim this morning, except living and breathing and not something she could make disappear by yelling an emergency code. She'd spent more time than she would ever admit thinking of ways to tell him off if she ever saw him again, but she'd also never thought she'd actually see him again. It was almost too coincidental he was here...unless of course, he wasn't really him…

That concerning thought gave her more questions than comfort: how would Mystique even know about her "adventure" with Gambit? _Could_ she have found out?

He quirked an eyebrow at her, still quietly waiting for her response, never ungluing his eyes from her face. The look in his eyes as they roved over her features was indistinguishable and made her feel so fidgety. She wasn't sure which would make her gut clench more: if it was Mystique staring at her so intensely, plotting _something_ or another, or if it was actually Gambit in front of her.

Clearly, her face gave away more than she'd intended, as she saw his eyes widen fractionally before breaking the silence.. "I know what you're thinkin', _chère_. 'M not Mystique."

Her eyes narrowed.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, although she could see an upward turn to his lips, apparently knowing her well enough to understand that he was going to have to prove it. Of course, he had always seemed to instinctively understand her so well that it really shouldn't have surprised her.

It was infuriating.

He smirked and swiftly reached forward to grab her gloveless hand before she even knew what was happening. His eyes flashed with mischief and before she knew it, he pulled her hand towards his face, his intention in doing so suddenly very clear. "I'm not afraid. Go ahead. Absorb m' thoughts. See for yourself."

She ripped her hand out of his, stepping back and trying not to flinch upon hearing and seeing the almost exact same thing he'd done on the train ride to New Orleans. This could _not_ actually be happening. There was no way this could _actually_ be him, just casually showing back up in Bayville and acting like no time had passed since they'd last seen each other. As surreal as it was for her to see him again in person, at least she had the presence of mind to respond instead of gaping at him like a fish out of water. "Can't blame me for being suspicious. Mystique bein' here disguised as you is much more likely considering I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she shot at him.

For a split second, she thought she saw an unrecognizable emotion pass over his face, but his face returned to that stupid grin too quick for her to actually process what had happened.

He must have noticed her momentary confusion and decided to use it to his advantage, because he suddenly straightened and closed the distance between them with all the grace of a natural predator. When he stopped advancing, he was close enough she could feel his body heat and she had to force herself to not step back. She kept her eyes locked on his (all the while aware of what a stupid choice that could be) and kept her chin up.

He was still smirking, and it grew more and more aggravating by the second. That stupid grin should have been enough to convince her he was actually himself, although she couldn't help but notice that something behind his smirk was different now after she'd just snapped at him. She couldn't for the life of her determine exactly _what_ was different, but there was something there. Gambit was always confident (to the point of overly confident) but she was almost certain he was faltering slightly for some reason and it made her curious why.

He grinned lazily, his face suddenly betraying none of the conflict she could swear she'd just seen, and shrugged before leaning casually against his bo staff. She rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue. "'Specially when you messaged me before the whole Apocalypse showdown and never heard anything back," he said softly. His smirk didn't quite match his voice or the rest of his face anymore and it made Rogue feel off-kilter. His eyes seemed to be searching hers seriously and with very little sense of mirth. It made her stomach flip (although weirdly not unpleasantly) to see him looking at her so seriously.

There were a million ways she could have responded. Anger was the one she was most comfortable with, but it would also let him get a reaction out of her (which she assumed was what he wanted, and thus she refused to give him the satisfaction). Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and did her best to hold back a sigh. "Can you blame me?"

He looked down, finally breaking their eye contact. Now that his eyes weren't holding her captive, she was able to notice subtle differences about him. His hair was different since she'd seen him last. It was shorter than before, she noticed as he ducked his head to look toward the ground and then off into the distance. She caught herself almost smiling remembering him telling her over a game of cards in their train car how much revenge he'd planned to get on his brother for that terrible bowlcut he'd had-impossible to part right and mostly flat over his head. A travesty, he'd called it. A true travesty that such naturally suave hair had all its style removed and in its place was left a bad attempt at a Ceasar cut and a revenge plot. Last time he'd let his brother convince him a quick cut would do no harm, he'd said before throwing down a card and picking up his next. She hadn't known until hearing his dramatics in that box car she still had the capability to laugh after everything that had happened with Apocalypse, but somehow he'd gotten her to do what everything else had failed, seemingly amping up his antics (somehow dramatic, dry, and sarcastic all at the same time) until the ghost of a smile became a real smile and finally she'd been actually laughing a little again.

Gambit's bangs didn't lay over his forehead anymore, his hair was slightly too short for that. However, she could already tell he'd put an effort into styling it so the flatness of the bowlcut was no more. He'd changed his facial hair too. Gone was the goatee and soul patch, replaced simply by a 5 o' clock shadow. Rogue struggled to tear her eyes away from how strong his jaw looked now, even through his face mask.

He was just as tall as she remembered, but he seemed a little less lanky and a little more sturdy now. She barely had time to notice how serious and exhausted his face looked before a wry smile broke across. This smile was even less genuine this time, as if he were forcing a sense of normalcy into his actions. He looked back at her and she fought to keep from fidgeting under his intense gaze. "Nah. And I know it ain't gonna mean much, but I woulda been there if I coulda. M' hands were...just a little tied up at the moment."

"Too tied up for a quick text?" The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to filter them. It gave too much away and she wasn't comfortable with him knowing she had noticed his lack of showing up (or even just responding) or worse that it had bothered and upset her.

Despite her discomfort at basically admitting to him she had been emotionally affected by his failing to even respond, she was slightly comforted when almost immediately his face gave _him_ away in return. He seemed to react before he could stop himself as he winced slightly, enough that she understood what she had seen (this time) before he covered and hid the grimace with practiced ease. Whatever had held him up, he clearly must have preferred the idea of a life or death battle with Apocalypse. That or maybe, she couldn't stop herself from thinking, he actually did regret leaving her hanging slightly. The first option was more likely (again), but she couldn't stop herself from hoping that somewhere deep down the time they'd spent talking and learning each other in New Orleans could have led him to care that he'd basically ghosted her. She couldn't tell if she had just spent enough time around him (and with him in her head) that she could see through his poker face, or if he just wasn't trying as hard to keep up the facade with her. She also wasn't sure which option she liked less.

"Probably woulda made this whole situation better if I coulda. But yeah too tied up even for that. Sorry, _chère_. Looks like you had the whole situation handled though, based on what I heard. I knew you would."

She struggled to not show her confusion or pride at his admission of knowing she would be able to handle Apocalypse, but knew it was on her face anyway. She wanted to chalk it up to bullshit and a very clear attempt to blow off the whole situation and still stay in her good graces (for whatever reason), but she knew that wasn't completely fair of her. She might not hear from his psyche very often, but she was pretty sure she understood him well enough without him being in her head at the current moment. Just from being around him for a decent amount of time, she'd gotten a pretty good idea of what to expect from Gambit. He'd been right when he'd talked about how similar they were.

The part of her that would admit their similarities and her understanding of him knew he wouldn't just throw fake praise _her _way. He was a lot of things and incredibly good at flattering people when he wanted, but she knew he also felt they'd both been lied to enough and despite a lifetime of looking out only for himself, he hadn't been able to find it within himself to bullshit her in New Orleans outside of what had been necessary to save his dad. She had no confirmation outside of that miniscule grimace, but it told her that same mentality had potentially carried over through now and been at least partially genuine. This made her feel better and uncomfortable at the same time. She wanted to assume the worst of him because it'd sure be a lot easier to decide he'd been off running some scam or in a club and too busy to follow through on his promise to look out for her.

However, as she had reasoned with herself many times before, it wasn't entirely fair for her to be mad he hadn't come to help or even just let her know he'd gotten her voicemail. He probably hadn't meant he _himself_ would be looking out for her and even if he did, he wasn't her babysitter meant to be watching out for her 24/7. Even if he'd meant their goodbye (and the second card) as an actual promise to look out for her or some sort of alliance or pact or understanding, that didn't require him to be at her beck and call or for him to _have _to come help her to make up for him dragging her into his life to use her powers for his gain. On top of that, he could have very easily changed his mind about her even after leaving her a way to get in contact. The logical explanation she'd found for herself months ago still didn't seem to help her frustration when she'd been alone thinking about it, let alone standing right in front of him.

"You know, next time you could just use your powers. Mystique can't copy them."

With that, she turned around and started to walk away, unsure of what else she should do and too unsettled to try to continue to banter or start a fight with him. What exactly was she supposed to do? How exactly was one supposed to act around the guy who kidnapped her but who she felt a weird kinship and understanding for? She'd barely made it three steps before she felt a hand grab her own, spinning her back around in his direction. Although she now found herself facing toward him instead of away, she couldn't mistake the sudden, strong sense of déjà vu that hit her. Knowing him, it had to be at least partially intentional. She felt herself freeze momentarily and hoped her recovery was quick enough he wouldn't notice.

Before she could pull away, she heard him speak in that same tone he'd used the last time he grabbed her hand like this. It stopped her in her tracks, frozen back in that moment so many months ago. This time though, instead of a quick squeeze and letting go of her hand along with his lucky card, his hand was pulling her back into his space with a surprisingly gentle grip.

She was almost too stunned to speak (a feeling she was hating more and more the longer it went on), the majority of her feeling like she was stuck in some sort of hyper realistic dream. Speechless was not usually a word anyone would use to describe Rogue, but here she was unable to speak up at all. No matter how much time she'd spent thinking of what she would say to him if she ever saw him again (more time than she would ever admit to anyone), she hadn't prepared herself enough, clearly. He was right in front of her and she couldn't get any words out of her throat. This was so surreal.

When she finally did allow herself to look back up into his eyes, she knew there was no way she could continue to deny this was happening. He was real and he was here, as confusing and warm and infuriating as before. His hand was gentle where it still held hers (even though he'd certainly gotten her attention and pulled her close enough into his space that he could have let go), and she was hit with the smell she'd been trying to forget since New Orleans last February: cloves, spices, and something she didn't think she could quite place, but was uniquely Gambit.

"Cain't let you head that way, _chère_."

She glared at him and ripped her hand away. "You're gonna have to stop me then, Gambit."

"Remy."

When she didn't verbally respond, the weirdly calm expression he'd been wearing on his face was suddenly replaced by that damn smirk again. If nothing else, at least smirking was something she expected of him. It made it easier for her to feel grounded and like she could handle whatever he threw at her. "M' real name's not Gambit," he offered in explanation.

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. They both knew she was aware of that. They both also knew he didn't need to tell her; she already knew both of his names. "So?"

"_So_ I think after N'awlins s'only right you can use m' other name."

"Flattered, I guess, but this ain't exactly a social call and we ain't exactly friends catchin' up, Gambit," she moved to step away in her intended direction and he stepped with her in the same direction as she did so, still keeping her well within his reach.

He frowned as he locked his eyes on hers, holding her in his red on black gaze. "You sure about that, Rogue?Cause from where I'm standin', don't look like we're exactly enemies either." She was vaguely aware of a warm sensation that felt like it was spreading through her head.

She wrinkled her nose in frustration and fought the urge to lean back from him further. "Stop tryin' to do that eye charmin' crap, _Gambit_," she said, putting emphasis on his codename, hoping to put some sort of distance between them, if he wouldn't back down and allow for physical distance.

She was fairly certain she didn't imagine his strong cheekbones warmed slightly, as it wasn't something she was accustomed to seeing on his face. "Wasn't tryin' ta, Rogue." at her raised eyebrow, he put his hands up in his defense. "Honest. Was jus' hoping you'd relax a little...didn't mean t' actually start charmin' ya."

Rogue was pretty sure if she rolled her eyes anymore she'd give herself a migraine, but she found herself rolling her eyes yet again as she turned around to try and walk away...yet again.

...And found her hand wrapped in his (yet _again_), although this time his grip was strong enough to stop her in her tracks and firmly keep her hand in his.

"Damn it, Cajun! Let. Go. I'm leaving. That way."

"Already told you, _chère_. Not an option."

Rogue narrowed her eyes at him, not surprised in the slightest to find his expression mirroring hers. She ripped her hand out of his grip. "Sucks for you then cause that's where I'm goin'."

As she stepped to turn and walk away, he swiftly moved in time with her, effectively blocking her intended path this time, bo staff extending his reach.

"Like I said, Rogue. Can't letcha go this way."

She raised an eyebrow, muscles tensing as she mentally prepared herself to fight him. Whatever was in that direction, he must be tasked with keeping the X men away from it. "Guess you're just gonna have to let the big guy down then cause I'm goin' that way and I don't take orders from you."

He frowned and it took her a moment to process how damn tall he was as he straightened to his full height. She hadn't even realized how his defensive posture and bunched shoulders for most of their conversation had hid it until this moment when he stood tall. She might still be hoping for another growth spurt but she had thought he was probably old enough he'd done his growing...how the hell did he seem even taller now? Rogue wasn't sure if it was a mixture of false memory and being too close to him or what, but he seemed at least a few inches taller than before. Maybe he was younger than she'd guessed? "Don't care so much 'bout what Magneto thinks right now, Rogue."

"You're just back workin' for him."

Gambit's nose crinkled and she recognized his eerily serious expression becoming frustrated. It was an expression she knew she could identify on his face-she'd seen it enough in New Orleans. "Workin' for someone don' mean you have t' follow rules and regulations every second, _chère_. Jus' means I have a few guidelines I gotta follow that ain't mine." _Rules and regulations like the X men have._ He didn't say it outloud, but she didn't need him to anyway; she heard it loud and clear.

She waved him off, annoyed. "Whatever you gotta tell yourself, Swamp Rat. Now you gonna get outta my way? Or am I gonna have to make you?" When he chose to smirk again but didn't rise to the bait, she lunged, fist raised, hoping her making the first move would give her some kind of advantage. She was smart enough to know that with Gambit, she needed one.

His smirk was now a full blown grin as he dodged her punch easily, bo staff sweeping to catch her feet. She jumped and swung at him again, even more annoyed when he let out a quick dark laugh. "Been lookin' for a good fight for a while, _chère_. Happy to oblige, 'specially for such a pretty girl."

She let out a frustrated growl and the fight began. For every kick and punch she sent his way, he blocked her with practiced ease, dodging and swiping at her, laughing and chattering about as they went on. Occasionally, when he would block her fist, his hand would grab hold and instead of letting go she was met with...corrections? Advice? It was like he was playing with her, like they were training or sparring and not fighting. Every few seconds of silence was met with him interjecting something new as she felt frustration and annoyance (and confusion) fill her up to the tipping point. Every time she heard "C'mon, _chère_. I know Wolvie taught you better than t' hit from that angle on someone half a foot taller than you" or "aw, y' can do better than that, _chère._ Plant y' foot t' give y' more power" or a little tounge tut with "c'mon, _p'tite_, I know y' can dodge quicker than that-almos' got y' there" or " _Bien_. Aim a little lower next time and y' got me", her frustration with him mounted more and more. Even when they really got moving around their space and his cards started flying, they seemed to her half hearted at best; the glowing yellow barely scorching the ground upon explosion.

Everything about the situation frustrated her, but there was something even more grinding her gears. It was more than him treating this as some big game (annoying, but standard when it came to Gambit): he would block and dodge and throw the occasional card (and jabber on and on), but she found herself struggling to recall if he'd done anything but defend the entire fight. Outside of the occasional explosion, which were either not as intimidating as they used to be or just weren't big enough to actually hurt her due to the speed he had to throw them, he wasn't really attacking back. Any aggression she could have sworn she'd noticed in his fighting style in the past (fighting one of her teammates or the Rippers) was just...not there. She was struck again with the feeling that it was like he considered this nothing more than a sparring match between pals, not an actual fight.

Come to think of it, she wasn't quite sure she could ever remember him fighting her with the same aggression she'd seen with others, but she'd always assumed it was because her power wasn't all that threatening unless she got too close. Gambit was generally quick enough to be able to get away from her, so trying to use her powers was a moot point unless she could distract him. Despite all her training with Wolverine, she knew that unless she used her powers she still wasn't as big a threat as other mutants around. Not like a punch was as worrisome as a laser beam. She didn't so much see Gambit putting out less effort when he fought her, just usually seemed to be focusing less on taking her out quickly and more on...something else she'd never been able to figure out. Still, she hated feeling babied and coddled.

She jumped back from one of his cards, which yet again left barely a small scorch mark upon explosion. "What the hell, Gambit? Wouldja shut up and let me pass or ya gonna put your money where your mouth is and actually try to fight back?" He stood from his defensive crouch and was almost so still she felt like time had stopped. She didn't wait for him to respond before continuing. "I'm not a baby and you ain't trainin' me."

He grinned (again) but this time it reached his eyes. "_Non_? But we could do some private tutoring if you wantin', _chère_."

She snorted, but chose to sit on her responses, letting him make the next move.

When he did, his choice surprised her: he retracted his bo staff and took a step closer to her, with no intention of fight in his stance or eyes. When his spoke again, there was also none of the previous suggestion in his tone, but maybe a slight bit of exasperation. "_Chère_, you _have _t' know that's not what I'm doin'." He was back to that voice she'd been trying to remove from her brain for months: warm honey and sweet spice steeped into every word, like a cup of tea paired with a good book and a rainy day. It made her chest both relax and clench at the same time, a feeling she wasn't very fond of.

He stepped toward her, looking like he expected her to step backward in turn, keeping with their previous pattern. Perhaps because she wanted to be obstinate, or because she wanted to surprise him and do the opposite of what he expected, or because she was curious what he meant, she stood her ground and let him come closer to her until they were once again close enough she could see the details of how his hair naturally but gently swooped up from his forehead, even when shorter. Something about him felt older. It wasn't necessarily his physical changes, but there was an air about him that felt older and more...tired. His eyes, as usual, filled in a few gaps on what he was thinking about, but not enough she could (ever) fully understand. He looked determined now, but still faltering slightly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she never got to hear what he was going to say as his eyes widened and the next thing she knew she was spun in the opposite direction, pinned between a crate and his body.

* * *

See y'all soon! Thank you again for all the support :D


	3. Chapter 3

Hi again! Short turnover time in writing from chapter 2 to chapter 3. Originally I'd planned them as one chapter, so once I wanted to post this once I had everything worked out the way I wanted.

Huge thanks to thehazeofdusk again for giving thoughts and suggestions pre-publishing. You're incredibly good at helping me find my way to what I'd wanted to write.

Thank you to everyone who's stopped by so far and all the kind words. I'm happy to have people enjoying this fic like I am :D

ALSO! For anyone curious about Remy's hair, it's based on this pic by starrrtt27

starrrtt27/art/Southern-Cooking-COLORED-361755722

**Chapter 3**

She feels everything like the snapshots of a camera: A firm arm around her hip, hand gripping at her waist. Hot breath in her ear. Another hand cradling the back of her head, holding her to a steadily rising and falling chest. The hard, rigid crates to her back, contrasted with the warmth of his body basically molded to every curve she had. Intense heat (not from Gambit's close proximity) followed by smoke stinging in her eyes. A ringing in her ears she recognized as the sensation that followed larger explosions, since she'd unfortunately felt it several times before.

Rogue tried to blink some of the smoke out of her eyes and turned her face upward to see Gambit looking around quickly, scanning the area. She awkwardly and blearily tried to follow his gaze, more focused now on where the attack had come from than how fast her heartbeat was going in her ears. There was too much smoke to see anything and what she could see was limited even more by Gambit's broad shoulders.

She put her hands on his chest to push him back and allow her to try and see but he held firm and tightened his grip on her waist, not looking down at her. He narrowed his eyes in the direction he'd been looking in. Something was there, and it wasn't friendly for either of them, it would seem. She'd barely had a second to poke at his chest, trying to get him to give some indicator of what he knew so she wouldn't be so in the dark before his eyes narrowed. His jaw tightened and he again moved faster than she'd have thought he could, swooping them both downward and against another crate few feet from where they'd stood.

This time she knew what he must have predicted was coming (how was he able to predict that so quick? Were his ears not ringing? Were his eyes not stinging?) and was able to prepare herself better, squeezing her hands over her ears just as he slid them to the ground, crouched around her. She could feel the tension in his jaw against her hair and distantly heard him grunt as another blast of heat hit closer to his back this time. He pulled her tighter still, almost hunched over her entire form and she found her hands had moved from her own ears and were now fisted in his duster up by his collar bone. She panicked slightly for a moment, remembering one hand was lacking a glove, before remembering his uniform covered his neck and part of his face. Although the blast of the explosion was done, she still had no clue what could be out there; but she knew the timer on figuring it out quick enough was steadily ticking down.

Whatever was out there, she wasn't getting up easily to fight it without Gambit going first-in his rush, he'd squished her between his legs and was basically sitting on her bent knees as well as his own heels. That combined with his arms pulling her waist and head snugly against him was overwhelming sensation for her. He'd always invaded her personal space, but this was potentially the closest anyone had gotten to her in years. Scratch that. This was the closest anyone had gotten to her ever. By a longshot.

She knew it was him just trying to help her not die in a fiery explosion, but being so close to someone was such an odd sensation she couldn't help herself from stopping to savor it for a moment and imagine briefly what it would be like to be someone else; just a girl being held tight by someone who loves her. A silly impossible fantasy, but one she allowed herself for the briefest moment before remembering herself. She couldn't allow herself to want for someone to touch her like this, it wasn't safe. But in this moment, she could let herself appreciate (a little bit) what she couldn't have.

She wasn't sure if it was her rising anxiety that they were going to get hurt with him being so close to her (especially with his fingers dug into her hair in those fingerless gloves and his cheek and nose turned into the top of her head, only the fabric of his uniform and her hair keeping him safe) or adrenaline kicking in again, knowing a fight was about to hit, but the longer he held her tightly to his body (even though the immediate danger seemed to be past them again) the faster her heartbeat seemed to race on.

She was comforted when she started hearing his breathing again, glad to have her hearing returning. His breath was surprisingly calm and contrasting his heart rate, which seemed to be going a mile a minute under her fist. The ringing in her ears clearing, she slowly moved her head, giving him time to move his skin safely out of the way. He obliged, but didn't look down to meet her eyes.

In the nearby vicinity, she heard several explosions and lots of yelling from familiar and unfamiliar voices. At her hip, she felt her communicator buzzing endlessly and hurried to disentangle her arm from his to get her hand down to her belt to reach it. If it was buzzing this intensely, the team must be starting to freak out that she wasn't answering the conversation on the other end of the earpieces. Too late Rogue realized how close her waist and belt were to the apex of his thighs. Glad his gaze was focused off in the distance and doing her best to school her face in case his eyes did turn back her way, Rogue carefully slid her hand down her side to avoid brushing against the inside of his thigh as much as possible, like an incredibly terrifying game of Operation (except instead of an alarm sounding if she touched where she shouldn't, she would instead have to live with the mortification of accidentally coping a feel on the Cajun Cassanova, who she was sure would never, ever let her live it down. Ever).

Finally, with a mental sigh of relief, Rogue successfully picked up her communicator to turn her earpiece on. She must have forgotten to turn it on before taking off on her own, something she was sure she was going to hear about from both Logan and Scott. Gambit looked down, watching carefully as she struggled to listen for any clear message, but there was too much chaos. She looked up at Gambit and slowly shook her head. He gave one small nod, affirming he understood she'd received no helpful information.

Instead of turning back to look outwards for danger after their exchange, Gambit's eyes had stopped on her face, locking her in place. There was an intense look in his eyes, curious yet beguiling, and she wasn't sure if it was her imagination that the red of his eyes were almost glowing in contrast to the smoke. Something about the way his eyes roved over her face, a look in them she had no idea how to interpret, made her entire body feel hot and cold at the same time. She had to fight the urge to back down and break their eye contact.

Very slowly, never breaking eye contact, she felt his hand in her hair untangle itself and slide out. Rogue barely had time to consider his hand's intended path; it suddenly felt like the little air she _could _breathe in wasn't enough when he was looking at her so fervently. Rogue was hit with the sensation of being incredibly hyper-aware of not only how close their bodies were, but also their faces. With her face now titled up to meet his stare, if he were to lean down any further she was terrified their noses would be touching. Just as she was ready to give in to her anxiety and push away from him, creating the space she desperately needed right now, she discovered where his hand had ventured as his fingers softly, carefully brushed back some of her bangs from where they'd fallen in her face.

She froze, aware the fear gripping her was obvious on her face. Was he _insane?_ His gloves had no fingers and here he was almost millimeters away from skin on skin contact...and apparently instead of considering how absolutely reckless and dangerous that could be, his face was calm, his lips softly turned up at the edges in a way she'd never seen before, as he glided her unruly bangs to tuck behind her ear before reburying his hand back into her hair like the whole action was no big deal.

Clearing her throat to break the tension weighing down the air, she nodded her head towards her hand, still holding the communicator, thinking it might be important right about now to give her team a sign she was at least okay, when he slowly shook his head. He (again slowly) disentangled his hand from her hair and held up one finger. His intention was clear-he didn't think they should talk, but he had information she should know and _could_ know with the touch of a finger. She carefully latched her communicator back to her belt, and half heartedly raised her ungloved hand to meet his before panic overtook her and her hand dropped to Gambit's thigh.

What if she knocked him out? How would she be able to return the favor and save him back while she sorted through his memories to figure out the important information he wanted her to know? She hadn't absorbed anyone since Apocalypse-what if Scott was right and her lack of practice would make her even more dangerous in the field if she did use her powers? What if the time she'd spent not using her powers would make this one touch even stronger and Gambit ended up in a coma like...

He must have read the anxiety in her eyes, because he immediately, yet still slowly, moved his hand to her waist, both of his hands now resting on her hips. He smiled at her in what she hoped was understanding and leaned his mouth down to her ear. "We gonna try not movin' too quick or makin' sound. Second attack came after we started movin' 'round again."

Although it felt incredibly intimate and very foreign to her, especially given their current position, she turned her lips to his ear, thankful his uniform covered it. "Someone you know?"

She felt him tense, but didn't feel guilty necessarily. What was she supposed to think?

When he whispered to her again, his tone was tighter. "_Non_. M' thinkin' Sentinels. Newer models'r supposed t' track by movement and sound." Newer models? Trask had been busy, apparently, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see the new results. There was definitely a tone of defensiveness when he whispered again. "Was here t' look into Trask's new research and development. 'pparently th' first model of machines weren't catchin' enough mutants so he's been busy workin' t' fix that. Thought everythin' I found was jus' designs, but I guessin' he's further along buildin'm than the plans say. Guessin' he decided on a test run once y' guys showed up and the ruckus started."

Now that she knew not to move, she wasn't sure if it was safer to nod and potentially be detected around Gambit's back or whisper back create noise, so she settled instead for squeezing her hand on his thigh, uncomfortable as the idea was for her. He squeezed her hip back, still way more gently then she ever would have guessed he would, and they both resumed listening for signs of anything around them. Rogue was finding it hard to listen around her, however, with Gambit's mouth still pressed so close to her ear and hers to his. This development had somehow managed to make their already impossibly intimate position even more. She was incredibly aware of his jaw and cheek so close to her own. She couldn't tell if she was so aware because of how easily he could get hurt, or because his face pressed so close to hers was giving her a strange tingly feeling in her face.

This time, Rogue heard the source of the explosion fire off a shot at the same time as Gambit, but his reflexes proved lighting fast again as he tensed and tucked Rogue's head back into his chest as tightly as before as the next explosion sounded, this time from further away. She was embarrassed to find her hand had moved from his thigh and now had wrapped around his back inside his duster and was resting between his shoulder blades in the process of bracing herself for the explosion. Her hand seemed to have a mind of its own today and Rogue didn't appreciate it at all.

Even more embarrassing was Rogue's recognition of two voices coming closer, yelling to each other as a set of feet pounded on the ground through the maze of crates away from the direction the most recent explosion had come from. No way in hell was she going to be able to explain any of what was happening to herself, let alone one of her teammates. The incoming feet skidded to a halt as both Rogue and Gambit's names were called out in unison.

Rogue peaked out from Gambit's arms as they both moved to stand and disentangle all their limbs, Rogue quickly doing everything she could to make their position less awkward to be caught in, almost stumbling as she stood too fast on legs that had fallen asleep. Gambit watched her catch herself as he righted himself as well, but made no move to grab her again. She was grateful for the space; the amount of anxiety in her chest their proximity had caused lessening, even if she was having trouble getting her body to forget how it felt to be held so tightly or how his breath had disturbed the hair by her ear, almost tickling her or how even in a series of explosions, knowing he was there had given her a small sense of security, like having a partner to watch her back again.

Jean landed softy on the ground and went to Rogue as Pyro hurried over to his teammate.

"Mate, we gotta go! I got a feelin' these aren't the Sentinels 1.0 anymore!" Pyro then took off sprinting.

Gambit snorted as his teammate took off running and continued to look in Pyro's direction but didn't move yet. Perhaps his legs were also on pins and needles and he needed a second, Rogue thought as she smoothed her hands over her own thighs, trying to get the blood moving again quickly. He scoffed again almost affectionately as he watched his teammate continue sprinting away from the direction Sentinels would soon be coming from. Although she'd expected him to, Gambit didn't follow suit with Pyro, but instead confusingly turned to look at Rogue.

Rogue knew Jean was searching her face and trying very hard to not accidentally read her mind to find out exactly why the Cajun was so close to Rogue's proximity. When it came to Gambit and New Orleans, Jean knew roughly the same story everyone else (that he'd taken-with air quotes from Scott and Logan- Rogue to New Orleans because he needed help and she'd helped him). Although Rogue was sure no one fully believed her, the only people who technically knew the full story were her and Gambit. They could guess at her editing the truth, but unless someone read her mind, they couldn't prove her wrong. That didn't stop Logan, Scott, and Kurt from aggressively hating Gambit from that moment on, but it did give enough reasonable doubt Rogue could yell at them to stop bitching about it.

Luckily the older girl didn't seem to be taking on the same attitude her boyfriend no doubt would have, had he been there. Jean watched the Swamp Rat cautiously, but Rogue could see her choosing to take cues from Rogue rather than go on the attack immediately. If Rogue wasn't fighting Gambit, things were clearly okay enough that the Sentinel was their most pressing issue. There was a gleam in Jean's eye as she looked back and forth between the two southerners that Rogue wasn't sure she was a fan of, but there would be plenty of time to care about that later.

"The jet is a straight shot this way. Logan moved it once the craziness started," Jean gestured. "We gotta move-the Sentinel I met took no damage from Pyro, Colossus, and I combined. I chucked the biggest solid object I could find at it and it got back up and found each of us right away." Rogue nodded, readying herself to run. "You need a lift?" It was nice of Jean to offer, but with the way the telekinetic's powers had been fritzing lately, it was probably safer for Jean to just worry about floating herself and for Rogue to make like Pyro and sprint.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Just tell Wolverine I'm putting Scott's Danger Room training to the test."

Jean laughed and rolled her eyes. "Deal. Hurry though. You should probably get out of here too, Gambit," Jean said, addressing the Cajun politely as she took off.

Rogue was already moving, Gambit keeping pace at her side, before Jean had gone too far. Although his legs were longer than hers, he seemed to be choosing to keep her speed.

"Ol' One Eye takin' over trainin', huh?"

"Gambit, I think we have more pressin' issues right now," Rogue said incredulously.

"More important than Cyke? My, my how times have changed."

They were in a life or death situation, but that still almost took her out of the moment with how out of the blue it felt. What the hell did he mean by that? And where did he get off making comments about Scott like that? Remembering herself, she filed it away to examine later (once they'd survived) knowing all the same she was probably not going to understand even with some hindsight. Based on his competitive tone, it was probably some weird grudge or an inside joke with himself about Scott's leadership abilities. "I think new and improved robots programmed to hunt an' kill mutants is more important than who's leadin' the X men in the field, Gambit!"

"What, I ain't allowed t' be curious?"

She didn't respond, choosing to try to focus her energy into running as fast as she could, but he continued anyway. "Always thought your Professor'd wise up and pick someone less insufferable than Mr. Perfect to lead y' team."

A laser hit just to Rogue's left and she dodged, almost running into him as she heard the sounds of the Sentinel coming closer.

"Like I said, Gambit, I think the killer robots might need to take precedence right now."

"Aw, c'mon, _chère._ Live a little."

More lasers fired upon them as the Sentinel closed the gap.

"Yes, Swamp Rat, I _would _like to live a little more. Thus, spendin' energy runnin' and not gossipin' about Scott."

She barely had time to see his small frown before another blast came towards her, nicking her shoulder. As she struggled to move out of the way, knowing more hits must be coming in her exact direction, she felt him already tugging her towards him and out of the direct line of fire. She was distinctly reminded of him similarly pulling her back from gunfire in Blood Moon Bayou. She'd just showed up to get him and his dad out and...

...and she suddenly realised he was probably currently doing the same thing she suspected he'd purposefully done back then from the second she'd shown back up for him. Although she hadn't realized it until getting home, every second until they'd both been safe, Gambit had pulled her out of any danger he saw and watched her like a hawk (whether she'd needed it or not) until they'd made it out of the bayou. Even his dad asking about her powers she remembered he'd immediately shut down. She wasn't sure where the sudden prioritization of her safety came from back then (or now), but she'd assumed he just hadn't wanted her to die on his account since she'd come back to finish what he'd started. They'd fought and worked together fairly harmoniously before that moment in New Orleans, but something had changed when she'd shown back up to bail him out and it was seeming to carry over to their current situation as well (if she was reading him right).

They sped up and Gambit maneuvered them so she was even more slightly ahead of him as they tore down their path, the Sentinel hot on their heels as Rogue finally spotted the X Jet, ready for lift off with Wolverine waiting at the open door for her to jump in.

Gambit steered them in the jet's direction, feet pounding in time with one another. She'd assumed as soon as she was close enough to the jet he would take off to wherever Pyro had gone, but clearly she was wrong. He put his hand on her back, pushing her to go even faster until they finally reached the jet. She tried to turn and look at him, but the second her foot touched the jet Gambit launched himself to the right where she could distantly see the large form of Colossus and picked up to full speed, racing a Sentinel that was far too close to him for Rogue's comfort.

She moved to step off the jet, but Logan stopped her. She turned to her mentor, hair whipping in her face as she gestured wildly in Gambit's direction. "He's not gonna make it!"

Logan frowned. "You go out there and he's gonna come running back instead of going to safety, Stripes."

Rogue shook her head in disbelief. "Why would he do that? He's the one in more danger right now, not me, and he's not stupid - "

Logan sighed and raised a hand as he cut her off. "Trust me. He'd be in more danger if you stepped off this jet, kid."

Logan walked to the front of the jet, yelling orders to take off. Rogue kept her eye on Gambit, but curiously noticed the figure of Colossus seemed to be coming closer rather than staying stationary or running away now that he'd flagged down Gambit.

Something was wrong.

The second Colossus got close enough, Gambit changed directions, now following his teams trajectory towards the X Jet, some unheard communication passing between them. Rogue squinted and vaguely saw three more figures behind Gambit and Colossus.

"Wait!" Rogue shouted, turning to the cockpit. "Don't take off!"

Jean and Kitty rushed over, trying to see what she was looking at and immediately spotted the four sprinting figures and one floating overhead Rogue was focused on, all being followed by three Sentinels, poised to fire.

"Logan, hold for take off! They need help!" Jean turned and ran back to make sure he could hear over all the noise.

It felt like everything stopped as Rogue and Kitty stood there in the jet's open door, waiting for their fellow mutants to make it in. Moments like this, when something crazy like killer Sentinels sent by a branch of the government to exterminate all mutants appeared, Rogue was reminded how arbitrary the enemy team lines felt. In moments like this, grudges and differences of opinion on laws and morals be damned, they were all on the same team.

Forced onto the same team, she corrected herself as she recognized the first two mutants who made it in the jet; Magneto followed quickly by Mystique. Kitty quickly looked at Rogue and then to Kurt, watching her friends for any signs of distress when Mystique entered. Gambit slid into the jet behind them, followed swiftly by Colossus and finally Pyro before Kitty hollered out "anyone else?". Upon seeing headshakes, slammed her fist on the button to close the door and Logan immediately took off.

Unsteady though the take off was and as hot as her face felt, Rogue managed to calmly walk her way over to Kurt with Kitty closely behind, doing her best to hide any reaction or microreaction she could have about anything the last hour had held. Blankly, she sat in the row next to her brother's and she was joined quickly but half-unexpectedly by Scott.

This was the friend Rogue remembered, she thought absently to herself, knowing he must have turned over the metaphorical leadership reigns to Logan so he could come support her and Kurt in case Mystique tried to come too close. This was the guy they'd all wanted to follow. She wished Scott could see it and understand leadership and kindness came naturally to him when he didn't get stuck in his own brain.

Her musing about Scott aside, Rogue's mind was racing. Mystique was back in town. Mystique was working with Magneto and up to something and back in town. She was stuck in an enclosed space with her crazy mother who was always planning something underhanded on this jet until they could land, and she couldn't do anything but sit and hope Mystique had the good sense to not try to talk to her.

Mystique was back.

And Gambit had known Mystique was there. He'd known Mystique was there and hadn't given Rogue the slightest heads up. On top of that, Gambit was working with Mystique. He was working with Mystique, but trying to joke around with her and act like they were still...Whatever they were? Acquaintances who saw value in saving each other's lives when convenient? Friends maybe? Enemies with a tentative truce sometimes?

She glanced in his direction quickly and saw the look of guilt on his face, his eyes asking something from her that she was too worked up to interpret. Whatever it was, his expression was far too genuine (she thought, but did she know anything for real? He was working with Mystique so he could up to anything for all she knew) for her respond well to in this moment with all the anger she felt towards Mystique and the situation and him for not trying to tell her or giving her some sort of heads up. Instead, she chose to not respond at all and stubbornly crossed her arms as she turned away to look out her window.

Next to her, Rogue felt Scott stiffen as he caught her quick glance in Gambit's direction. She turned to him and knew exactly where he was looking even without observing the murderous glare he was directing the Cajun's way.

Rogue took a deep breath and spoke to Scott softly. "Did you know?" Scott turned back to her, questioning what she meant. "That he was back. Did you know he was back and that's why you put him in the session this morning?"

Scott let out a deep breath, understanding now what she was asking. When he answered, she could tell from the expression of genuine shock on his face that her friend wasn't lying to her-he was just as surprised to see Gambit back as anyone. "No. I had no clue."

She breathed a sigh of relief and felt a weight lift of her chest that she hadn't realized had been there. At least that was one less thing to worry about, she thought to herself, feeling at least one pair of eyes (if not a second alternating between her and her brother) boring into the side of her skull. Rogue chose to not give either of them the satisfaction of looking over and instead chose to continue to look out her window. It was going to be a long plane ride, she thought to herself as she heard Logan and Magneto begin arguing about the best course of action.

A very long plane ride.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! Thank you again for all the kindness and support. I'm really happy you guys are enjoying and I hope you continue to.

Thanks per usual to thehazeofdusk for reading ahead of time.

While I'm definitely more comfortable with German than French, I still limited how much I had Kurt use it and kept to the "context clues/put it in where it feels right" method for right now.

**Chapter 4**

And so began one of the least fun plane rides Rogue had ever experienced, including but not limited to the numerous times sitting through Bobby learning how to fly the flight sim (with Lance, during his short lived attempt at being an X Man, chucking up his lunch in the back and Jamie clinging to her arm in terror while Scott did his best to guide the Icicle through correct flying procedures).

Once the plane was in the air and they were in relative safety, the noise began: Jean was radioing for the Professor, Storm, and Beast. Logan and Magneto were arguing about where they needed to go, since they could at least agree that heading to either team's base could just lead the Sentinels there. Mystique was alternating between fighting with Logan and Magneto and staring down Kurt and Rogue while making pointed comments to bait them into acknowledging her. Scott had struck up a conversation across the aisle with Kurt about the numerous new attacks the Sentinels had displayed, trying to keep him distracted from Mystique. Kitty, apparently deciding to play the awkward roll of peacemaker, took it upon herself to wave hi to Colossus and invite him to come sit. On the one hand this wasn't too much of a problem because he was so stoically quiet (something Rogue was very much appreciating amidst the rest of the chaos). But on the other hand, it also made things worse because as Colossus sat down in front of Rogue and Scott, so too came Pyro (who bounced into the seat next to Colossus) and Gambit (who casually slid into the row in front of Kurt and Kitty, claiming both seats for himself with his long legs). Gambit had put his back to the window as he sat, facing his teammates and setting his line of sight conveniently right in Rogue's direction.

With Pyro still prattling on about who knew what and Kitty now asking how Colossus had been since Apocalypse, it seemed to Rogue the only people on the plane not creating noise were her and the Swamp Rat, who seemed to be alternating between listening in on Magneto, Mystique, and Logan planning, looking at Scott with a funny sort of expression on his face, and glancing in Rogue's direction (even as she refused to meet his eye).

It was enough chaos to remind Rogue exactly why she'd been avoiding using her powers. At least when all of the noise was in her head, she'd learned enough techniques to mute the noise to a dull roar or make it go away. Unfortunately, there was no such fix right now.

Trying to tune out the conversations around her, she risked a glance towards Gambit. Based on how her day had gone so far, she should have guessed how her luck would turn out. She'd made her risk looking his direction at the exact wrong time and again he had her eyes locked into his from across the aisle. Instantly, she recognized the same expression he'd had after she found out he'd tricked her in New Orleans: guilt, frustration, and an almost pleading look to his eyes.

Good. He should be feeling guilty right now, she thought to herself bitterly, casting every bit of anger she could into her eyes for him to witness. They'd been alone for a decent amount of time in the maze of crates-he couldn't have once mentioned Mystique was there? Or that he was working on the same team with her?

She levelly met his gaze before ripping her eyes away and turning towards Colossus' back. Rogue knew it wasn't entirely fair for her to be so pissed at him. Like she'd told herself many times before, they weren't friends just because they'd spent some time alone together. He didn't technically owe her anything. He might have been playing some sort of game when they'd been fighting earlier, but that didn't mean anything in the long run. Even if this felt like a betrayal that he of all people should understand, Rogue could acknowledge that kind of grudge is technically a moot point when you're enemies (and since he was apparently back with the Acolytes, that pretty much confirmed for Rogue that they _were _supposed to be enemies again).

Frustrated, Rogue wasn't quite sure where she should be focusing on. She tried to distract herself by fiddling with her hands only to notice she'd missed putting her glove back on after all the chaos that had ensued. Quickly she looked down, and was filled with relief when she found the glove still tucked into her belt. '_At least that didn't go wrong,'_ she thought to herself as she quickly tugged her glove on. Scott looked down at the motion and then quickly to her face, realizing there was only one likely reason Rogue would have taken the glove off in the first place in this situation.

Softly (but definitely not as softly as Rogue would have liked) Scott gestured to her newly gloved hand. "Wait, did you actually use your powers?"

Before Rogue could respond, Kurt jumped in, practically leaning over Kitty to join the conversation. "Wait, Rogue used her powers?"

"Rogue used her powers? Seriously? You actually did?" Kitty echoed, head whipping in Rogue's direction as the brunette abruptly dropped out of her conversation with Colossus. Unfortunately for Rogue, this turned Colossus' and Pyro's heads in her direction as well. Kitty shot Rogue a look of concern. Of all the teammates, Kitty had been the most vocally supportive of Rogue not needing to always rely on her powers. Maybe it was because they'd been roommates and Kitty saw how little sleep Rogue's powers allotted, but it was most likely because against all odds, opposites had attracted and now even Rogue would admit (to Kitty or herself) how close of friends they'd become.

Rogue opened her mouth to speak, fighting the feeling of a shrinking violet with all of the attention now on her, including the incredibly intense gaze of Gambit whose eyes were locked in on her face again, not bothering to hide where his attentions were at in the current moment. Unintentionally, Rogue glanced in Gambit's direction, their eyes meeting before she turned back to Scott. "I-"

"Meine Schwester, wirklich? I am so proud of you!"

"Kurt, calm down I - "

"Wait, Rogue, seriously? It's been literal months!"

"Kit, I d - "

"Were you able to control the ability you got? How long did it hang on for?" Scott was immediately in team leader analysis and data mode. Rogue could only bite back a frustrated growl at the situation continuing to spiral out of control and constantly being cut off.

"Like, seriously, how much danger were you _in _if you resorted to that?" the look of concern on Kitty's face softened Rogue's frustration slightly. But not slightly enough.

"Hey, guys! Thanks for broadcastin' my business to everyone on the plane!" Rogue bit out sarcastically, doing her best to keep her volume down, glancing worriedly in Mystique's direction. As if that wasn't enough for her team to be on top of her about her powers, she knew Mystique could very easily be eavesdropping on any part of the conversation, important or not. And, important or not, any information was dangerous in Mystique's hands.

Kurt had the grace to look slightly ashamed and lowered his voice, noticing now, as Rogue had, that Mystique's attentions had been focused solely in their direction before Logan yanked her back into the discussion about their next move. "Sorry, Rogue. It's just so nice to see you accepting your gift again," he said apologetically.

"And deciding to be useful to the team again," Scott muttered under his breath, still clearly just as annoyed as Rogue about their conversation earlier that morning.

"Yeah, cause that's the only reason t' have someone 'round, right?" Rogue's face whipped in Gambit's direction. His eyes were now focused completely on Scott. It seemed to Rogue his eyes were almost glowing again, although the rest of his face was a blank mask. His voice had been quiet enough as he snapped at Scott, but that only served to amplify the cold expression on his face instead of dulling it.

"Excuse me?" Shit. Rogue knew that tone. It was the same voice Scott used whenever he and Lance started doing their competitive pissing match thing.

Gambit smirked as he leaned back into the window and began casually shuffling a deck of cards. His casual pose did nothing to lessen the animosity in his gaze. "Y' heard me." He shrugged and continued, his lazy drawl adding a dangerously casual tone to his voice as he picked out one card and flipped it between his fingers. Gambit kept his glare on Scott, but when he spoke next, it was to address Rogue, a deceptively sweet note mixing in with his cold tone, making him sound all the more like a snake about to strike. "Guess we cain't have an X Men choosin' t' be useful with skills outside'a they powers, now can we, _chère_?"

Rogue wasn't sure if he really did linger on the word 'useful' or if it was her imagination that gave the word an extra layer of distaste. She understood why that word would piss him off, but surely he couldn't be _this _mad about Scott's mindset, especially when it hardly affected Gambit himself. She couldn't understand why he was airing this grievance with so many people around to witness his reaction.

Honestly, she was surprised he'd said anything at all. He was a shit-stirrer, sure, but it seemed to Rogue that (the few times she'd seen him on the job) Gambit had always chosen the laid back approach and focused instead on the task at hand instead of getting into petty squabbles. Still, the way Gambit had spoken up and was still staring Scott down made Rogue fidget uncomfortably she could tell the look held too much intensity to be solely about Scott's comment, even if she had no clue what else it could be about.

Scott leaned forward, his voice low. "I don't think you have any right to comment on Rogue and her powers. Not after - "

Hurriedly, Rogue jabbed Scott in the gut. Of all the things she didn't want Mystique finding out about, Gambit kidnapping her and hauling her off to New Orleans was definitely in the top 5. Especially when they were all stuck on a very small jet together miles high in the sky. Rogue's eyes darted to Mystique. Her mother was still fighting with Logan and Magneto, so that was a hopeful sign they hadn't drawn her attention again at least. She turned to Scott, tilted her head in Mystiques direction once, and frowned at Scott, doing her best to silently convey "dude, what the hell" with only her face and gestures. For good measure she turned in Gambit's direction, only to see him calmly absorbed in shuffling his cards, as if he hadn't just fixed Scott with a glare that could have made a weaker man crumble.

Kitty looked at Rogue questioningly. Rogue rolled her eyes. "You really think Mystique hearin' even a whisper about that is gonna lead to anythin' good?" she whispered. Kitty's eyes widened in understanding and she saw Kurt and Scott each give a miniscule nod. Considering Gambit was still absorbed in his cards, although now back to playing with one card between his fingers again, Rogue was pretty sure they were all in agreeance about that at least.

As an awkward silence settled over the six, Rogue resolutely turned to look out her window, slouching down. Definitely the least fun plane ride she could remember. After several seconds, she saw Pyro lean into Colossus to quasi-whisper: "Mate, you see where the popcorn's at? This is the best damn show I've seen in ages."

* * *

With Jean finally succeeding in reaching the Institute over the radio, the conversation up front had calmed considerably as well, so at least they had that to be grateful for. The look of relief on Jean's face as Logan shooed her to the back was monumental, stress showing on the older girl's face as she made her way to the back. Unfortunately, with three extra bodies taking up seats, the sitting options were limited. Clearly seeing her options were limited to standing, kicking someone out of a seat, or taking Gambit's feet chair, Jean chose none of the above and instead chose to sit on Scott's lap, squeezing the couple and Rogue together awkwardly in the now very suddenly small space.

Rogue took a deep breath in and out of her nose, trying to calm her discomfort. It wasn't so much that it was Jean and Scott invading her space, as it was a couple displaying PDA next to her _and _invading her space. She was long since past her crush on Scott. Not only were the two basically attached at the hip, but the more Rogue had gotten used to seeing the two of them together, the more she found herself actually agreeing with Kitty about how cute they were together rather than agreeing for the sake of not causing waves. To her surprise, instead of the usual anxiety over people in her space and the lingering sadness she got seeing most couples, this time, observing how physically close Scott held Jean to him led Rogue's brain somewhere else entirely.

This time, Rogue's discomfort stemmed from memories flooding her brain of exactly how close Gambit had held her during the explosions. Every inch of his torso had felt molded to her own in such a way she'd almost been unable to tell whose heart was racing faster, although she'd have never known how fast his heart was going by how calm he'd looked externally. His hands had gripped her to him with purpose, firmly keeping her there and not letting go. And just when she'd thought it wasn't physically possible to get any closer to each other, the second explosion had hit and he'd tucked her right between his thighs like he wasn't potentially centimeters away from death (especially with his fingers _uncovered _and buried in her hair). And then there was his thighs, which had wrapped around her hips, locking them in an incredibly intimate position. _His thighs_, one of which she'd _rested her hand on top of_. _For a while._

A flush swept through her and she quickly looked to the window, knowing it must show on her face and refusing to let her embarrassment grow right now.

She needed to stop thinking about this.

It was just...he'd shown zero hesitation. None. Whatsoever. Whether he'd worried internally or not about being too close to her, he'd grabbed her like she was no different than anyone one did that. Not with her. Especially not since her powers had manifested. Her friends at the Institute were known to casually high five her or give the occasional hug, but even Kitty's tightest "bestie time hugs" (as the smaller girl had dubbed them) hadn't felt nearly as close as what had just happened with Gambit.

Great. Now, to add onto the growing list of things she needed to not think about right now (a concerning number of which had to do with a certain Cajun), now she also needed to stop thinking about the fact that in the very small amount of time she'd spent around Gambit, he'd not only casually touched her more often than...pretty much anyone since her powers had manifested, but also he had held her closer than anyone else ever had with no sense of uncertainty or hesitation.

She tried to hide a sigh by blowing some silver bangs out of her eyes. Not thinking about this was going terribly. Luckily, she didn't have to sit and ruminate on not thinking for very long.

Hank's voice came over the radio, drawing the attention of the entire jet. "_Wolverine, we have a situation."_

"Of course," Logan grunted. He turned to the radio. "Okay Hank, lay it on me."

"_There seems to be a large disturbance downtown near the Pow-R8 plant. Plenty of destruction, lots of chaos." _

"You thinkin' it's Sentinels again? Or somethin' new?" Logan asked.

"_I'd think Sentinels more likely given today's events. It's possible Trask knows exactly what Pow-R8 can do to mutants and he's drawing you there intentionally by attacking the surrounding area. Perhaps he's hoping to use the plant as a failsafe if his Sentinels fail to catch us again."_

The X men all exchanged nervous glances. They'd known the plant was supposed to be functional again soon, but they had thought maybe they'd get some time before having to deal with the mutant poison. They'd seen what happened to Evan, and no one was prepared to see what their next encounter with the juice could hold.

The Professor's voice joined Hank's. "_There are news crews trying to get there, but unfortunately we only know what we've told you."_

"What is this plant? Why would Trask bother to draw us there?" demanded Magneto.

"Sports drink for humans. Poison for us," Kurt supplied.

Magneto's eyes darkened. "The humans have created a substance that poisons our kind and yet you've done nothing to destroy it?"

"We thought the operation had been shut down after the Morlocks trashed the place," Scott answered, jaw set and tone defensive.

Mystique scoffed. "Can't trust the Morlocks to finish any job. They only look out for themselves."

"Takes one to know one," Scott muttered.

Mystique spun on Scott, fury clear in her face. "Would you like to play this game again, little boy? I can think of plenty more deserts to drop you in."

Jean jumped up from Scott's lap and advanced on Mystique, finger pointed. "Just you try, Mystique!" Scott lept out of his seat to pull Jean back just as a metal pole from the back of the plane whizzed past Rogue's head to wrap around Mystique and pin her to the wall of the plane.

"Enough!" Magneto bellowed. "Mystique, you will back down. Do not forget why you're here." Rogue watched as her mother glared at Magneto, but made no move to continue to fight. The pole dropped and Mystique righted herself, crossing her arms. The same anger was still on her face, but she made no move to advance on Scott or Jean again. Rogue and Kurt exchanged glances, neither comfortable with their mother's sudden self control. Whatever Magneto had over her, it must be pretty big, Rogue thought to herself.

As if he hadn't just broken up a fight, Magneto turned to the radio. "Perhaps it would be beneficial to attack together. Take out both the plant and the Sentinels, since the issue was not previously dealt with."

A heavy sigh on the other end then, "_I agree, Magnus. It seems we have no choice, since the owner of the plant decided to rebuild knowing how his product could harm mutants. Although I must insist the plant is cleared of all beings, mutant and human, before it is destroyed. Logan, we're sending you the coordinates now."_

* * *

For the most part, planning teams and preparing for battle with the Acolytes went much smoother than Rogue would have ever guessed. With Magneto and the Professor discussing everything so cordially, she shouldn't have been surprised. However, she'd expected Logan or Mystique to interrupt or give input way more than they actually did.

It was easily decided Kurt and Kitty would keep an eye out for civilians to keep them safe from the surrounding damage. Colossus had volunteered to go along with them just in case they needed some extra strength and no one seemed to object.

Magneto, Logan, Jean, Pyro, Gambit, and Mystique would head straight for the Sentinels. Rogue made a note to thank Logan later for not placing her on this team; not only would she have to work with Mystique, but she'd have to suck it up and use her powers if she was going to be on the A-team attacking the Sentinels. He was saving her from being forced to use her powers and she was eternally grateful to her mentor for that. It had taken some work to convince Magneto that Rogue would be more useful elsewhere, but in the end he'd agreed to Logan's plan. The big hiccup came with finalizing who would break in to the Pow-R8 plant, a job that had fallen to Rogue and Scott. It should have been a fairly simple decision, given the two of them were the only ones not assigned to a team. However...

"Y' really tellin' me y' picked a team t' break in to the chemical plant and destroy the t'ing...and that team don't include the t'ief who explodes shit?" Gambit drawled, somehow managing to sound casual and incredulous at the same time. He looked up from the cards he'd still been shuffling to Wolverine and Magneto, waiting for their response.

Rogue slowly turned her head in Gambit's direction, trying incredibly hard to keep her face emotionless and also suddenly regretting thinking this process had gone smoothly thus far. She looked just in time to see him roll his eyes in disbelief at the situation.

"Gambit makes a good point. I think it prudent we move him to the Pow-R8 team. Once that team has done their job, they'll help finish the job with the Sentinels," Magneto conceded, either not seeing or not caring about the large amount of tension now flowing from several of the X Men.

Rogue quickly looked between Wolverine and Scott, both of whom looked like they were about to explode. She could already see the direction this was going. "Rogue, we might as well move you to the Sentinels team then. Scott and Gumbo can handle that on their own," Logan ground out, fixing Gambit with a murderous glare.

"Nonsense," Magneto cut in. "You've already said Rogue would be most useful taking down the factory. No need to remove the girl to swap Gambit in. Although if we only need two people, I don't see any reason why Cyclops couldn't join the team fighting Sentinels." When no one responded outside of Logan's glare, Magneto shrugged. "Very well then. Rogue, Gambit, and Mr. Summers will destroy the factory and then join us in fighting any Sentinels left."

Wolverine was stuck, and the X Men all knew it. From the smug look on his face, Gambit did too. No way was Wolverine going to admit he didn't want Gambit near Rogue in front of Magneto and Mystique, even if it meant being able to keep the Swamp Rat away from her. There was no moving Rogue around after he'd just spent the time convincing Magneto that Rogue would be integral to taking down the plant. She felt like her entire team was holding their breath, waiting to see what Logan would say.

"Fine."

From across the plane, Gambits eyes met Rogue's and he smirked as he responded to Logan. "Sounds good t' me."


	5. Chapter 5

Hello!

Thank you so much for the kind comments and support! They make my day every time I log on and see people are also enjoying this fic. I'm so happy you guys are liking my writing and the characters seem in character (which is a priority of mine I hope to keep working really hard at). I really appreciate people sharing this and stopping by to encourage me and compliment the fic-I feel like I've been writing at the speed of lightning because of it. Genuinely, I hadn't expected such a positive response and I'm really grateful for it :)

Also YES I did put in what I feel like is an obligatory 90's show joke of Rocky Horror Picture show. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I always run into it (and it worked for what I needed)

Thanks always to my bud, thehazeofdusk-this chapter originally was way shorter and I was so not happy with it until she gave it a read and got my brain where it needed to be.

Without further ado, it's time to get back to Team Pow-R8 =P

**Chapter 5**

"Let's just get this over with."

"Y' got a problem, boy scout?"

"My _problem's _you sneaking your way onto this team just so you can piss us off and harass Rogue."

A snort. "I'm on this team for the exact reasons I tol' Magneto and Wolvie and your Professor. Gettin' t' piss you off's just a bonus."

Rogue felt her eye twitching, fists clenching at her sides. They literally _just_ walked off the damn plane. Literally. Two seconds after the door closed, those two were already going at it.

"Yeah, I bet you had no ulterior motive whatsoever."

"Not sure what you're insinuatin', One-Eye. Where I come from, 'm the best in the business with this kind of job. The bossman knows that. Not my fault you don' get to control everythin' this time."

Scott scoffed. "Best in the business. Yeah, cause that's something to be proud of."

"Y' know, maybe if y' didn't have a giant stick up y' ass y'd _actually _be able t' lead y' team well enough adding someone competent onto y' mission wouldn't be necessary." It was a low blow, and Rogue knew if Gambit was going for the jugular so suddenly this situation was about to blow up quick.

"And _maybe_ if you weren't just some hired gun who doesn't care about anything but money, I wouldn't have to _be _so uptight to make this mission successful."

"Don' see how my day job interferes with bein' able to complete this mission, 'specially when 'm here _because_ of m' skills from that job."

"Well of course you don't. Because all you're focused on is stirring up trouble and trying to piss us off. Neither of us want you here, Gambit, so let's just get this over with," Scott gestured to himself and Rogue then, including her in his statement, and she felt her brows furrow in frustration at being pulled into this conversation and bristling especially at the insinuation she felt the exact same way as Scott.

"Don' say it like y've solved some giant mystery, cub scout. And since when'r you in charge of speakin' her mind?" Gambit gestured to Rogue, his face clearly saying he didn't believe Scott for a second. Somewhere deep down, she was grateful he knew she wasn't pissed at him for _that_. Every inch of Gambit looked lethal as he stalked towards Scott, eyes narrowed although he still continued to calmly shuffle his cards.

Scott didn't back down from the challenge and the two men were quickly almost face to face, glaring at each other with such an intensity Rogue couldn't help but be confused where this _much _animosity was coming from, especially from Gambit, who hadn't seemed to pay Scott much mind back in New Orleans. "I'm not speaking her mind. I'm standing up for the best interests of my _friend._ Who also doesn't want you here. Besides, I'm right. You don't want him here, right, Rogue?"

Gambit whistled low, wicked amusement playing across his features, which seemed to only piss Scott off more. "Seems to me, Rogue's pretty good at speakin' up f' herself, 'specially when she's pissed." He took on a tone mimicking Scott's when he spoke next: "Y' fine with me bein' here, right, _chère_?"

"You _kidnapped_ her and spent, what, 24 hours with her max? What makes you think you know her better than her _friend_ who she's lived with for years?"

"Please. Don' take more'n a minute t' figure out gal's a southern spitfire who's gon' speak her mind," the low baritone of Gambit's voice only served to increase the sarcasm in his lazy drawl.

"Oh wow, you figured out she's from the south and she's got a temper! Someone give him an award!" Scott's voice was raising and his face was getting redder the longer this conversation went on.

Gambit chuckled, still taking on what Rogue considered the mentality of a seven year old and mocking Scott's tone. "Oh wow, y've lived with her for a few years yet y' don't actually know a damn thing about her outside'a how useful her powers can be t' y' team."

"T-that's not true! And who are you to talk about how I run our team? At least none of us have kidnapped a _minor_ for the hell of it or chosen to work with Mystique!"

"SHUT. UP." Two heads whipped in her direction. "Both'a you!" Scott started to protest but had no shot. "Scott, what part of knowin' me for two years makes you think I won't kick your ass if you don't shut the hell up right now?" Unfortunately, this only made Gambit's expression even more smug, apparently thinking she was taking his side. She spun on him next, finger poking in his chest. "You too, Swamp Rat. You wanted in on this mission so bad, so let's just _do the damn mission_ and get this over with."

Without looking to see if they were following, Rogue stalked toward the Pow-R8 plant.

What the absolute hell?

She heard two sets of steps following behind her, but she ignored them in favor of deciding neither of them existed right now. She had a sports drink plant to destroy with their help or without. She did not have time to listen to them bicker about nothing or remember and focus on the fact that Gambit, who had just saved her life and held her so intimately close less than an hour ago, was working with her mother.

She knew it was Gambit who caught up to her first by, of course, his cards. He walked next to her and with all of her might she dared him to even try her right now. Luckily (for him), he kept his mouth shut, choosing to keep pace with her but not draw her ire in any other way. The silence that stretched between them was strained, but not awkward. It was clear he wanted to talk to her about something, but for once he was holding his tongue. She was still fuming, and he was at least smart enough to not set her off any more than she already was.

The southerners reached the building's perimeter fence quickly. The fence was about seven or eight feet tall with barbed wire across the top. Not the worst fence Rogue had ever prepared to climb, she thought to herself as Scott finally made his approach and parked himself on the opposite side of Rogue. Although she knew Scott was still focused on the fight, Gambit was immediately in his zone now and she was fascinated to see him taking in everything around him, eyes sharp and precise as he assessed the situation.

Scott pulled out his toolkit from his belt, immediately looking for the right tool to cut the wires.

Gambit scoffed and turned to look at Scott in annoyance. "Y' gotta be kiddin' me, right?"

"I'm sorry, are you wanting to vault the giant fence?"

Gambit rolled his eyes and put his cards in his pocket before handing Rogue his bo staff. He then bent down and started lightly charging along the fence links, tracing a shape large enough for them to fit through, each explosion small enough it was only a slight crackling sound.

"Well, what does that accomplish that my tools won't?"

Rogue rolled her eyes, getting real tired of this competitive shit. "Scott, this is way quicker."

True to what she'd said, Gambit was already done and he lightly kicked the piece of the fence out of the way. He crawled through first and stood, allowing Rogue room to crawl through behind him. As she went to stand, she looked up and saw his hand being offered, eyes inscrutable as he looked down at her. She let out a quick breath from her nose and frowned, frustrated to see him try to flip back to the "friends" mode when she knew now he was working with Mystique and hadn't bothered to tell her. Maybe, she thought to herself, friend was the wrong word...but she couldn't think of what else to call him that also justified the very valid anger she was feeling towards him. She slammed the bo staff into his hand and pulled her own hand away quickly as she made to stand on her own.

She crossed her arms and stood waiting for Scott to come through, doing her best to glare in the opposite direction of Gambit. She knew storming ahead now that they were past the fence might not be the right call: there would be cameras and alarms from here on out and Gambit _was_ here for a reason. It still didn't make it any easier to pointedly ignore him, even as Gambit continued to keep his eyes locked on her face.

As Scott crawled through the hole in the fence and began picking up the fallen piece to put it back in place, Rogue made the mistake of turning in Gambit's direction and found herself, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, falling into his eyes as he continued to looking at her with the same inscrutable expression, except this time when she looked closer she could see his eyebrows slightly furrowed and a very slight frown across his lips. She couldn't help but notice the hand holding his bo staff hung almost limply by his side.

Rogue was almost glad when Scott stood and spoke first, breaking the connection that glued her eyes to Gambit's. When he spoke, Scott's tone was controlled and tight. "Alright, Gambit. You're the expert. Lead the way."

When Rogue turned back to look his way as well, she found him still staring at her, the look in his eyes unnerving her. She met his gaze levelly, trying to follow Scott's lead and keep her own expression blank. This response only seemed to annoy Gambit more as he turned around, hands shoved in his pockets, and stalked towards the building, not bothering to see if they would follow.

* * *

"Oh no. No way."

Well they'd made it maybe five minutes without one of the three antagonizing another...

It was an impressive time span, but nowhere near as long as Rogue would wish for. She sighed, jumping in before Gambit could respond.

"Scott, I know you don't like this plan, but it makes sense. Gambit is the only one of us who knows how to disarm all the systems without drawing attention our way, which we need if we don't want a Sentinel to look over here while we're working, and you and I can communicate through comms any trouble or updates if I'm watching the cameras."

"That doesn't mean we should split up and I should leave you with him," Scott hissed. Well, at least Scott was just being openly aggressive towards Gambit now instead of passive aggressive.

Gambit rolled his eyes, defensiveness and frustration clear in his face and voice. "What exactly do you think I'm gonna do t' her, huh?"

Scott chose to ignore Gambit and turned to Rogue, determination in his eyes. "You know, there _is_ another option. He and I could both go wait to explode things if you watched the cameras _and_ disarmed the alarms."

In the time she'd spent around Gambit, limited though it was, she'd seen many different expressions on his face. Although she couldn't always identify what each facial expression said exactly, she knew she'd seen enough different microexpressions to (sometimes) have a pretty good grip on what emotions he allowed others to read on his face. She'd seen him frustrated plenty (she wasn't the easiest person to disagree with, she knew). Mischievous was another she recognized (easily, mostly because it almost seemed to be his default). Shocked was another she was confident she could identify (from when she kicked him straight out of the train car). She'd also seen him annoyed with Julien and resigned irritation towards his father, but until this moment, she was certain she'd never actually seen him angry. Really angry.

His eyes were definitely glowing now (no doubt about that-maybe that was just a thing they did?), his olive toned skin flushed all the way from his hairline to his neck. Although most of his face remained impassive and blank, a small quirk of his eyebrow told Rogue that Gambit was now beyond tired of hearing Scott argue with him every step of the way, from the mission to her powers (although it was nice for a change to have someone other than Kitty back her up on not using her powers, she couldn't help but want to roll her eyes. He'd only had to put up with hearing Scott talk like this for maybe an hour. She'd been putting up with it for months) and Scott had managed to piss Gambit off to levels that made even Rogue a little nervous. His bo staff, still in his hand, began to glow as he advanced on Scott, drawn up to his full height. When he spoke, his voice was controlled in terms of volume but not so much tone, disgust and frustration seeping from every word. "Or y' could listen t' the guy who's been doin' this his whole life and stop worrin' 'bout someone else's powers."

Rogue almost growled in frustration and cut Scott off before he could respond, muscling her way in between the two men and pushing each back with an arm. "Enough!" Scott looked at her, betrayal in his eyes. "Seriously, Scott. Cut it out. This mission is never gonna end if we don't get movin'. Now Gambit's gonna take care of the alarms, and that's final. Even if I used my powers I wouldn't have his muscle memory to go fast _and_ we could very well have an unconscious teammate on our hands."

She knew the Swamp Rat was happy with her response by how she could feel his chest relax under her hand, a subtle movement, but one she felt clearly all the same. She wished he would wipe that smug expression off his face even if Scott was starting to push things too hard (even for his standards). Besides, it wasn't as if Gambit wasn't pushing right back just as hard.

She kept her eyes on Scott, channelling as much of Logan as she could while she tried to be the logical one here. "I'm gonna go with him and watch the cameras to give you heads up if anything's comin' your way, and you're gonna deal with it and go wait to explode shit until we come meet up with you." She turned to Gambit, whose smug expression had slid into a mask she was unfamiliar with, although she was relieved to see most traces of anger gone from his eyes when he returned her gaze. "Now which way we going, Gambit?"

He didn't even bother to glance at Scott before nodding his head in their intended direction and so _she _didn't even bother to wait for him as she took off in that direction.

* * *

"_Chére_."

…

"_Chére_."

…

"_Chérie…_," he sounded exasperated. Good. Now he knew how she felt.

…

"Rogue."

"Gambit."

"Remy."

"Rocky!"

Gambit paused as an almost cute, confused look crossed over his face.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Don't try to tell me you don't know Rocky Horror Picture Show, Gambit."

"Remy. And f'course I do. Jus' wasn' expectin' y' t' crack a joke, is all."

She sighed and came to a stop at the door labeled 'Office Personnel Only'. "Don't worry, Gambit. Won't happen again. This door?"

When he didn't answer, she turned back to look at him questioningly. He was still standing where he had been moments before, that same curious expression on his face as before that made her stomach clench. It was unnerving when he stared at her like that, especially when he walked towards her like he was right now. His eyes were locked in on her face, alight with...something. She could stop herself from continuing to stare back, feeling a tension fall over them again as he drew closer, coiling in her stomach. He stopped a few inches away from her, looking down at her and she was overwhelmed with the warmth he brought with him. When he was looking at her so carefully, she had to actively keep herself from being sucked back again into memories from months ago.

He'd come close enough now that she could see the small wrinkle in his brow. She knew he was thinking hard about something, but she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what. Sunlight peeked through a window from up above, serving to highlight the angle of his cheekbones while obscuring the rest of his face in shadows, only making the red of his eyes come to life even more. His jaw was tight, but his mouth was almost relaxed. His lips weren't necessarily in a smirk, but they weren't a frown either, nor were they in a completely neutral expression. This was perhaps the most emotion she'd seen play over his face, but it did her no good because she had absolutely no clue what any of it meant. The more she looked at his lips though, the more her stomach flipped, so she forced her eyes away from his, focusing instead on the tip of his long nose.

"Gambit?"

He was paying attention she knew, but he was choosing not to answer her; just slowly closing the distance between them even more, eyes locked on her face. She fought within herself to not back down. She would not let him intimidate her. She tried his name again, pouring as much of Logan's gruffness into her tone as possible. "Gambit. Which door?"

He'd come to a stop now, _still _looking down at her with that curious expression on his face and she was close enough she could now almost recognize the question in his eyes, although not much of anything else.

She tried once more, standing her ground and refusing to let him win, no matter how uncomfortable his proximity made her. She tried to make her voice even more assertive, knowing he would see right through it anyway, and did her best to glare back at him. "Gambit. This door?"

He continued to look at her, yet didn't reach out to touch her as she'd thought he might. As thankful as she was to have him somewhat out of her space, she still couldn't fight the feeling of being covered in him all the same. It was incredibly unfamiliar and made her heart race. He spoke softly as he reached around her, a small explosion sounding from the door handle. "S'not my call who else m' boss hires, chére."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he had already opened the door and started to move past her.

This time, it was her who saw the attack coming first and she tackled him to the ground just in time to save his head from becoming a burnt crisp just like the giant scorch mark on the door they'd just been in front of. This time, she was the one straddling him when they landed and she'd never been more thankful for killer robots as she was in that moment; he was more focused on kicking the door shut than their incredibly suggestive position, which saved her from having to hear his innuendos for now at least. They both froze, looking at each other in panic. Would the Sentinel still find them anyway if they stayed frozen? Was it even worth trying when it already had seen them? Luckily Gambit seemed to have the same concerns and they both quickly stood, facing the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw he had held his hand out to her, not taking his eyes off the door, his offering clear once more: he wouldn't try to make her use her powers or guilt her (like Scott), but he would freely offer up the option to be able to better protect herself against the Sentinels.

"That'll only make things worse if you get knocked out!" She hissed at him. It was the only logical reason she could think of that she shouldn't take his powers.

Again, his eyes never left the door but she did see an eyebrow raise and a smirk grace his lips, humor in his voice as he spoke next. "Think I can handle a small tap from y' powers jus' fine at this point, chére."

She almost broke her concentration on the incoming doom behind the door in confusion. "Gettin' zapped by me once don't mean you can suddenly handle it, Swamp Rat."

He looked as confused as she felt as he turned his head slightly in her direction. "Only once? But-" he stopped mid sentence as they heard the Sentinel crash to a halt right outside their door. She saw Gambit tensing and knew she was doing the same, but all the same his hand remained where it was, palm up and waiting for her to decide. He wiggled his fingers slightly for emphasis. "S'jus an option, Rogue, but you're gonna need to decide quick here."

Just an option, he'd said. An option, Rogue found, she was ready to take. No use debating and fighting over it when his psyche had disappeared pretty quickly last time anyway. Besides, she couldn't be annoyed by a psyche in her head if she was dead. She took a deep breath and started removing her glove. If he was surprised, he didn't let it show. Gambit's eyes had still not left the door, his body tense even as he continued to hold his hand out to her so casually.

She took a deep breath and tugged the glove off her fingers, but she was still too late, despite how relatively quick she'd made her decision. The Sentinel kicked in the wall and they both dove out of the way of the flying drywall as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, they didn't dive to the same side of the room so any chance of following through on her sharing his powers was out the window. With the Sentinel so close, she didn't want to risk having to haul his unconscious body out of danger anyway.

Immediately, Gambit's cards were flying at the Sentinel at lighting speed even as she saw him simultaneously focusing on crossing to her side of the room. His cards were a deeper gold now with almost a pink glow at the heart of each explosion. The contrast to the bright yellow, barely glowing cards he'd thrown at her earlier was stark. Despite the large number of explosions he landed on the Sentinel, nothing seemed to leave a mark. Rogue winced, knowing without looking that her shoulder had begun bleeding where she'd been hit by the Sentinel in the crate yard. She stood as quick as possible and balled her fists, quickly looking around for something, anything she could use as a weapon or defense.

Gambit was already a step ahead of her, something she was grateful for just this once. "_Chére_!" She turned as he called her and had just enough time to see his bo staff come flying towards her to catch it. Almost immediately upon catching it, she swung at the giant hand coming towards her, jamming the end of the staff in the wrist joint, using whatever leverage she could get as she did her best to cause some damage to the machine's circuits.

This seemed to give Gambit an idea and the second she'd dislodged his staff he aimed a card for the joint she'd just damaged. The Sentinel's hand severed from its arm at the wrist, the empty spot now sparking with open cords. Rogue turned towards Gambit and found a boyish grin on his face to match her own before they sprung into action.

She'd learned how well they worked together on the streets of New Orleans, but in the time since then she'd forgotten that fighting next to Gambit was...probably the most fun she'd had in a while. There was something about his exuberance, his tenacity; he was most alive when he was in action. He was precise with his attacks, smart with his movements, and, above all else, in a constant state of having the time of his life. They worked in perfect rhythm, she would stab at a joint, use whatever leverage she could to crack open the joint, and then dodge out of the way so he could send an explosion that way. Lather, rinse, repeat. A few times, the explosion would not work, giving the Sentinel the upper hand, but so far luck had been on their side.

"Havin' fun yet, _ch__ére_?"

Rogue rolled her eyes, unable to stop the small laugh that escaped. "Oh, yeah, battling robots. Every gal's dream."

"Y' should have said, _p'tite_. Woulda found us some sooner. Given you plenty t' dream about," He had the audacity to wink at her before throwing another card.

"You wish, Cajun," she snapped, although not fully in her normal abrupt tone.

"Now, now, _ch__ére_, just cause this Cajun ain't make y' dreams come true yet, it don't mean m' wish won't come true."

She pulled his staff from the Sentinel's shoulder with perhaps more force than was necessary. "Do you _ever_ get tired of the sound of your own voice?"

He chuckled. "Now where'd be the fun in that, _ch__ére_?"

Just as Gambit went to throw another card at the Sentinel, it powered down, all movement coming to an abrupt halt. Gambit stood from his crouch, rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the tension he must be feeling. Rogue was about to ask him what now when a loud clammer came from the hall, like two giant feet walking their way. They exchanged nervous glances with each other, backing up. Rogue's communicator jumped to life and Scott's voice came crackling through.

"Rogue, we gotta go! There's at least five Sentinels in the Pow-R8 factory alone. If the noises outside are any indicator, they're not alone. Make for the fence-I'll meet you there."

Gambit turned to her, hearing sound originating from her earpiece. "One Eye?"

This time she is the one who kept her gaze locked on the empty space, watching for whatever was coming their way. She nodded. "He says we gotta go. There's at least five just in this building."

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Gambit frowning. "This ain't right. It's like they're coordinatin'. Like they workin' together."

Rogue turned to him, not liking the implications of what he'd just said. "You really think they could?"

His face darkened considerably and he refocused his attention on the empty space, both of them waiting for the Sentinel outside the destroyed room to finally reach them. "Don't think we should stay an' find out."

She nodded and finally the Sentinel came into view. This time instead of its guns immediately charging to fire, it focused in on them like it was searching and an electronic voice sounded from where its head was.

'_Mutant Life Signs. Confirmed. Codename: Rogue. Affiliation: X Men. Orders: Capture. Codename: Gambit. Affiliation: Ma - "_

Gambit swung a handful of cards at the Sentinel, sending sparks flying with each separate explosion. He turned to Rogue, and she was shocked to see worry on his face. He turned back to the Sentinel and just as she was about to start up their previous pattern he darted away from her to the other side of the room, cornering himself against a wall before flinging another round of cards at the Sentinel. The Sentinel immediately turned its focus solely to Gambit and Rogue was horrified to see the robot building a charge to fire, aimed straight at Gambit, who was staring determined at the Sentinel but otherwise not moving. Why wasn't he moving? His eyes were locked on the Sentinel, a determined set to his jaw, watching as the gun charged and he _wasn't moving out of the way_. She gasped, hearing herself call his name as the gun fired, before she felt his weight land on her as he dove to the side just in time, rolling them as he did so that when they stopped moving, he was easily able to stand quickly and hauled her up with him.

"Gambit, are you insane? What the hell were you thinkin', Swamp Rat?"

Gambit simply grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as he began scrambling over the fallen remains in their way. He didn't stop, just ran for the open hole in the building the Sentinel's blast had created. As she started sprinting with him for the second time that day, she decided it was fury propelling her forward, not his hand on her arm or the terror of a killer robot to their back. "Cajun, are you fucking kidding me? You couldn't have found some other way to get the Sentinel to blast the wall? You had to almost get _blown to smithereens_?"

She's not sure if she heard him chuckle before responding, but he better hope she didn't if he wanted to continue to stay alive. "'M touched, _ch__ére_, but y' can yell at me all you want later. Now we gotta get movin'." Yeah, definitely fury.

"You have _got _to be kiddin' me, Cajun!"

She _knew _she didn't see him roll his eyes, but she felt it all the same in his response, just as she felt the accompanying smirk as he ordered her, "Rogue. Later. Run for life now," and she didn't know what she hated more: him or the fact that he was making her feel like a small child.

If fury hadn't been fueling her before, it was now. She ripped her arm out of Gambit's gasp, forcing herself to pump even more speed into her legs. She couldn't outrun him, but she could make it to the plane and lock him in the bathroom where she didn't have to see him.

...although on second thought, perhaps a barricade of or letting Logan loose would be more effective considering how little effect a lock would have on Gambit.

They made it to the fence just as Scott was kicking out the hole they'd crawled in through. Rogue slid under, keeping her forward momentum going and soon the three of them were sprinting towards the Velocity at speeds Rogue didn't know she'd had in her, lasers firing from the Sentinels chasing them from behind.

She should have known something else would go wrong. To her left she felt more than saw Scott go down, tumbling into her and sending her flying as well. She rolled with the hit as best she could and stood as fast as possible before looking back to see Scott, still struggling to stand as the Sentinels loomed closer. All the while aware of Gambit hollering after her, she turned back, running to her teammate. She got to Scott just in time to help him stand, ready to run the second he was, trying to stay calm as she looked back and saw how close the Sentinels had made it. Before she even had the chance to start helping Scott pick up speed again, Gambit was there pulling her along again, gripping her hand in his tightly. She watched for Scott out of the corner of her eye and wasn't surprised to see him stumble (she'd seen the state of his leg as she'd helped him stand). What she _was _surprised about was seeing Scott and Gambit simultaneously make eye contact and nod to each other over her head. Almost immediately, Scott's speed slowed slightly and before Rogue could slow with him and help her teammate, she had the sudden sensation of being flung through the air before everything went topsy turvy.

She lifted her head up after finding herself upside down, face far too close to Gambit's very pert ass for her comfort and everything clicked into place. She lifted her head up and saw Scott still running, but apparently at a speed his leg could handle. Rogue was suddenly incredibly aware of Gambit's arm across her thighs and his hand holding her calves down as he sprinted them towards the jet, not slowing for Scott.

She watched on in terror for her friend, heart sinking as the Sentinel got closer and closer. It felt like hours watching Scott struggle, helpless to do much of anything as Gambit sprinted them to the plane, arms like iron bands holding her over his shoulder. When he finally slid into the plane, Rogue began to squirm hitting against his back to put her down, but Gambit held tight to her, not letting her off his shoulder until Scott finally made it in the jet.

Sentinels continued firing as the jet took off at top speed but it wasn't until they were in the air and officially out of the Sentinel's radius that Gambit finally put her down. She immediately swung at him.

"You coulda gotten Scott _killed_!" she roared.

"No, you would've gotten _y'self_ killed tryin' t' save him. 'Sides he made it just fine, right, Cyke?" Gambit grunted out amidst the punches Rogue was throwing.

Rogue stopped swinging at him immediately, glad for the fact that the only people currently on the jet were Gambit, Scott, Jean, and herself. Scott had gone over to Jean immediately and she was already checking on his leg while he took control of the plane from her. Scott was fine and clearly not pissed, but that didn't mean Rogue couldn't be.

"I didn't _need _your help, Gambit!" she hissed as she balled her fists at her sides and fought to keep herself in control. "I was fine on my own."

Gambit towered over her and his eyes bore into hers as he stepped closer, bringing them almost chest to chest. His tone was no louder and no less angry than hers as he bit back, "Maybe y' _think _y' didn't need my help, but clearly y' did. If I'da left you there, you woulda gone at Cyke's slowass pace and then we woulda been waitin' on both'o'ya to take off or y' woulda gotten y'self killed tryin' t' be the hero."

She narrowed her eyes, fists landing on her hips in indignation. "Cajun, did you listen to a damn word I said? I don't. Need. Your help. I can take care'o myself."

He scoffed, almost a sneer running across his face and when he spoke his voice was every bit as unnerving as the look in his eyes. "Just cause y' don't _need_ help don't mean y' should have t' do everythin' y'self. An' _maybe_ I was jus' lookin' out f' y', _ch__érie_."

"Well _maybe_ I don't _want _you to look out for me. I survived Apocalypse all on my own just fine, thank you. I think I can handle a few Sentinels." The second she finished her sentence, all expression was gone from his face, even the anger and frustration. Even his eyes, which usually held so much life, were carefully blank as he stepped back from her. He opened his mouth, about to respond, but before either of them could say anything else, Scott was calling from the front of the plane shouting orders so they could land quickly, get everyone else from the main battle zone, and take off so they could regroup.

She shot one last look at Gambit, unsure of how they had just gone from fighting and bantering together to fighting with one another. But how could he not understand how that would make her feel? Scott too, she realized. Both of them had decided for her what was going to happen. She knew her lack of powers made her pretty useless, but she didn't think she was so useless they needed to treat her like a child.

As the rest of the mutants loaded on the plane and they took off a second time, the anger had started to fade away and while she was left with plenty of frustration with both Gambit and Scott, she realized as she snuck a glance at the back of his head that some of the frustration was with herself for whatever she'd said that had pushed him too far.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello all! Sorry for this wait being a little longer than it has been from chapter to chapter so far. Hopefully it helps that this chapter is almost double the length of any of the previous chapters (whoops).

Thank you again for all the interest and kindness! I really appreciate it.

Giant thanks (per usze) to thehazeofdusk, who is responsible for some of the witty banter from Remy and also encouraging me to just lean into the parts of the fic I was chickening out on haha she's actually the reason this chapter gained approximately 2k words in the end part of writing it.

**Chapter 6**

On a plane filled with people who were supposed to be bitter enemies, one might think coming up with a good plan would take forever, but right now there was no solidly good plan and at least everyone could agree on that. Remy had been surprised at how quickly the group came together on that point, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with the headache of everyone arguing the entire flight. The anxiety permeated the plane and on everyone's faces gave him a headache enough as it was.

Although they'd lost the Sentinels once the jet had gotten high enough, worry still clung in the air that the robots would eventually be able to find the group of mutants no matter where they touched down. Creating distance by retreating might be only putting off the inevitable, but it was the only call to make. Even Magneto was acting concerned about the Sentinels in his own way.

Remy hadn't really expected Magneto to accept Cue-Ball's idea that maybe splitting up into smaller groups in this retreat was a bad idea, but then again he'd been off on his expectations in a growing number of things that day. Still, the fact that Magneto had agreed with Xavier after very little debate that they should all retreat to the same place (and since the X mansion had more defenses, that's where they were headed) was a surprise for Remy and Piotr as well, if the look on the large man's face was any indicator. Remy had heard the two leaders talk before, always with an underlying layer of respect, but that didn't mean it was all expected and fine for the Acolytes to just...have a sleepover at the X mansion.

He and Pete, as it turned out, were not alone in their surprise. Although he was loathe to admit it, Cyclops had put up a decent debate with his Professor as he'd protested how terrible of an idea this was. No way in hell was Cyke going to get his way, but at least the whole debacle had given Remy something else (outside of his new deck cards, well broken in by this point) to pull his focus away from where it kept stubbornly gravitating to.

He suppressed the urge to exhale a huff through his nose and busied himself continuing to shuffle and cut his now very well worn-in deck of cards. General chatter had started throughout the plane which also helped him in his stubborn quest. Nightcrawler and the redhead were chatting away, occasionally drawing Mr. Pouty Pants into the conversation as well, although Cyke seemed to mostly be alternating between glaring around the plane and slapping a gigantic frown across his face. As general conversation swept through the plane, Piotr had, to Remy's astonishment, struck up conversation with Shadowcat, Rogue's roommate.

And there it was: the magnet his thoughts were fighting to drift to every time he let his guard down.

Rogue.

He knew she was sitting a few rows behind him, but looking back was not something he was about to let himself do. He'd been almost grateful when the rest of their teammates had gotten on the plane, preventing him from responding to Rogue anymore and giving him time to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do. And figure out a better response than the one he'd almost snapped back. With his boss and Mystique and Rogue's team suddenly there, he'd been forced to bite his tongue despite the varied emotions churning through his body. It was probably for the better he'd been cut off, but that didn't stop the swirl of negativity in his chest. Despite the frustration coursing through him, he knew better than to let on any frustration around Mystique. Frustration about her daughter would only make for a million times worse reaction from the shapeshifter and was not something Remy would willingly submit himself (or Rogue) to. He'd been careful since returning to keep every emotion carefully controlled around Mystique, especially when it came to hiding whatever connection he and Rogue had. Not like that was hard right now with the cold shoulder she seemed intent on giving him.

He hadn't necessarily expected a warm welcome from her. He'd known she wouldn't exactly want to be buddy-buddy with him, but he'd been hoping when she saw him again she wouldn't _hate_ him. He'd known that it was a very distinct possibility, but he'd been hoping the odds would be in his favor and she might have been willing to give him a chance to explain. She'd always been oppositional and stubborn though (part of what drew him to her, he supposed) but being prepared for her to hate him wasn't the same thing as knowing it was a possibility, apparently. It was pretty obvious trust and forgiveness have never been strengths of Rogue's (or his own, to be fair) so he hadn't expected everything to be fine, or even close to fine, but when she'd told him that she didn't want him looking out for her, he couldn't ignore the sting that had burned through his chest like smoke.

A sting that had sunk so deep it had momentarily thrown him back to Blood Moon Bayou; cold, alone (save for his father), and covered in swam water. Watching as one of the very few people who'd ever come back for him (even after he'd betrayed her trust and proved himself to be just as bad as the countless list of people who'd deceived her in the past) flew away. His hand still warm from holding her gloved hand in his so briefly. It could have been his imagination, the warmth, but, whether it was or wasn't, he'd clung to it at the time for reasons he wasn't entirely comfortable examining even now. At the time he'd allowed himself to wonder if someday they could find their way back to that easy banter they'd shared before the shit hit the fan. He'd wondered if they actually could have formed _some _sort of real friendship or acceptance had he not been a giant screw up and been lying and telling half truths to her most of the time. The thought had been intriguing, but not new.

Rogue had made her mark on him on their short journey (_kidnapping_, the cold feeling in his chest had reminded him mockingly and immediately). They hadn't become friends exactly, but they'd come to an understanding by the time she'd left with the X men, he'd felt (he'd hoped). A sort of kindred spirit, he'd thought to himself as he'd swiped some swamp mud out of his hair. It had certainly been kind of nice to imagine that somewhere out there was a person who understood him (_and_ didn't completely hate him because of it-he hoped), even if she only knew the tip of the iceberg.

Nicer still was the thought that even though he'd done exactly the same kind of betrayal both of them had spent their lives guarding against, she'd come back for him and saved his sorry ass. It was something he couldn't fathom doing if someone had betrayed him and, when he couldn't stop himself, he still wondered occasionally why she had done it. He could have made it out with his father somehow. He'd been in plenty of tighter spots. His gratitude to Rogue hadn't been for saving him. It had been for coming back. For somehow deciding it was worth it to help him out.

They'd found their footing so easily in New Orleans and he'd thought they might have been starting to again today; easily falling back into working together even after the length of time they'd been apart.

To be honest, although he knew he owed her still, he wasn't sure why he was trying so hard in the first place, especially when she was trying very hard to act like she didn't want him around. Already in the few times he'd actually gotten to interact with her, he'd put in more effort and consideration than he had for anyone else in his life, outside himself. But, despite her prickly nature, (and to his complete surprise) she had somehow become sort of worth it to him. Besides, if she was prickly on the outside, he didn't have to put in the same amount of effort hiding how prickly he was on the inside. It was perfect for both of them because it lessened the amount of hostility or deflection that was necessary for either to exude when talking to anyone else. Keeping everyone at arm's length was something both were comfortable with. Having someone with the same boundaries had been part of what made their weird connection and easy banter so appealing to him at least. Don't have to pretend or hide if both of you are intent on ignoring your past in the first place if both of you refuse to acknowledge it, he'd reasoned to himself.

Even with all their similarities, she had brought him out of his norm when it came to their interactions and how he viewed her on a whole. Offering to look out for someone else was not something he'd previously found himself wanting to do, let alone actually wanting to commit to doing. It was more than their parallel lives and the easy understanding they'd found for each other (or at least that he'd found for her after all those hours of watching her, first for Magento and then for himself). It was more than the idea in his brain that maybe if he'd had someone looking out for him, things could have gone differently for him. It was more than how interesting she could be when he stopped to actually watch. Whatever it was that drew him to Rogue was intangible. It slipped through his fingers like water the times he'd allowed himself to think about it. All he knew was, whether he wanted to understand why or not, he was drawn to the girl and, although he'd been shocked to discover it, the connection to her didn't bother him as much as it used to.

When he'd first been able to admit to himself he felt a small desire to look out for the withdrawn girl, he'd been surprised to realize that maybe for the first time in a long time he hadn't wanted anything from her in return (outside of his eventual need to save his father). Just maybe an occasional smile when he could check in on her.

It was incredibly unnerving.

He wasn't sure if it was good or bad his plan of following through and checking in on her had gone to hell in a handbasket anyway. He'd barely made it back once to see how she was dealing with everything, and even then he'd been breaking too many rules and putting her too close to multiple sources of danger (again). He hadn't even really gotten to _see_ her, technically.

Even then he'd only been able to sneak his way back to New York by bending every rule he could under the guise of needing to wrap up his contract with Magneto. His father hadn't known Magneto was technically dead, but he'd needed to see Rogue just once more. And besides, he'd reasoned with himself, she needed her backpack back. He couldn't just keep it and hope he'd run into her to give it back eventually. She had shit in there, including a blank French homework worksheet, that she probably needed back.

Okay, maybe not a blank worksheet anymore…so he'd gotten bored and filled it in. She could probably use a break from some of the school shit anyway, he'd figured. Plus it was kinda fun finding the most vulgar answers he could. She could probably use a laugh too, although he wasn't fully sure he would be the person she'd want a laugh from. But he'd made a promise to them both so he had to go. Plus she needed her backpack back.

It was a shitty excuse, but he'd needed the excuse to justify to himself the idea of potentially putting her in the line of danger by checking in on her. It was dumb, but he'd wanted to prove to her (and maybe himself), for some reason he couldn't fathom, that he'd meant what he said.

He shouldn't have needed an excuse, but he'd reasoned with himself that her reaction to seeing him could be much better if he had an excuse to be there (flimsy as it was). But then again, Rogue's reaction hadn't been the biggest problem for him at the time. His inability to stop thinking about her had been the problem, paired with the fact that he _really _shouldn't have been thinking about her for even more reasons than he'd previously had. Their ages, their previous team affiliations, his criminal past, both of their trust issues; all were big enough problems as it was. The added addition of his father's choices closing in around him (forcing him down a path he hadn't wanted but nonetheless was stuck following) and his own past choices chasing after him like a bloodhound meant keeping thoughts of looking out for her or maybe fostering some sort of friendship had to be locked away in his brain. It had been the smartest choice for both of them.

That hadn't stopped him from being able to resist checking in on her just once and slipping another Queen of Hearts card in with her finished homework. A terrible decision, really, but not as terrible as his decision to scrawl his number across the back of the card. It wasn't fair to her when at that point he'd known he was barely even free to offer her protection, let alone be able to respond the way he would really want if she did reach out. Giving her a way to reach out and encouraging their bond to grow was perhaps one of his more selfish decisions, even if he had unselfish justifications as well.

He'd known she wouldn't message him (despite the fact that a small part of him had wanted to know what it would be like if she did) and although the whole notion made him uncomfortable, he just wanted to be sure she had a way to reach him if she wanted to. Like if she needed someone to look out for her or she was in trouble. She wasn't the type to ask for help, but he felt slightly better knowing if she _did_ decide she needed help, she could call him (a feeling which made him feel altogether even more uncomfortable). He knew she wouldn't use it though, a small comfort even as he'd debated just taking the card out of her backpack. She would take it as a way to reach him in emergencies only, he'd justified to himself, and that was probably better for both of them in the long run.

Even if it hadn't done her much good when she _had_ finally reached out to him (despite his best efforts).

Vaguely, Remy heard Magneto respond in affirmative. Outside of Cyke grumbling, most everyone had quieted in anticipation of landing.

"We'll unload and debrief once we land," he overheard Wolvie saying. "Then Chuck and Storm'll tell us where you'll crash for the night."

* * *

"I'm tellin' ya, Chuck. It's like nothin' I've seen the Sentinels do before. Trask has to have upgraded them or something."

Electricity shot through Remy's spine as Rogue's eyes met his for the first time since they'd stormed to their own respective seats on the plane. Her brow was wrinkled, frustration still evident in her eyes, but she didn't speak up. He clenched his jaw and looked away from her, wishing for something to do with his hands outside of crossing his arms. As much as he might want to say something about the Sentinels and the information he'd found, Remy couldn't go against Magneto and lose his contract. It was the only thing keeping him alive right now.

"They were identifying us out loud too, Professor. Teams, codenames, and capture orders," Jean added in.

"At least you got a capture order. I was listed as 'exterminate'," Nightcrawler grumbled.

That was something Remy hadn't found in any of the blueprints he'd gotten for Magneto. Almost crystal clear he heard the Sentinel's metallic voice in his head listing Rogue as 'capture'. He didn't like the idea of that at all.

Rogue cut in next. Remy trained his face away from her, careful to keep it blank, hoping she wasn't about to put them both in a bad position by saying too much. "They were movin' together too. Almost like a pack."

As much as he wanted to look at her and acknowledge her keeping her mouth shut about the blueprints he'd stolen, he kept his face turned towards the leaders as the group continued to discuss what they'd seen. The hanger bay was large, but it felt astronomically bigger when she refused to meet his eyes.

"I don't know about you guys, but their guns packed way more of a punch this time around for me," Cyke said. Remy had to silently agree with him. Their weapons units had definitely been upgraded.

"Someone's been busy," growled Wolvie.

"Do you think this could be Trask still, Logan?" Xavier inquired, his hands steepled as he and Magneto exchanged looks.

"I know someone who can find out," Logan said, pulling out a phone and stalking off.

"Magnus, what do you know of this," asked Xavier, eyes meeting Magneto's.

"Little more than you for now. I had heard rumors of a government program working on the ultimate mutant tracking machine. I had one of my team go in to steal some blueprints so we might get a better idea of what's to come, but once your team arrived there was no chance of looking around as much as I would have prefered. Gambit," Magneto said, polished and cold as usual. "Did you manage to find anything of use?"

If he were the type of guy to sigh in relief, he would. Aware of Rogue's eyes trained on his face the whole time, Gambit pulled out the USB drive with the documents he'd managed to steal before he'd been signaled to retreat. Great. _Now_ she wanted to look at him, right when he couldn't look back at her. Figures.

He stepped forward to hand the USB to Magneto's waiting hand and turned to walk back to the spot he'd been occupying. Rogue had already averted her eyes and was staring at her professor with the intense focus of someone very loudly ignoring another person. Two could play at that game, _ch__é__rie_.

Remy's ears pricked up as he heard Cyke ask about Sabretooth, apparently assuming their entire team lineup was the same. Remy carefully trained his face so his discomfort wouldn't show. Creed was not someone he wanted to be around or talk about for many reasons, so he'd been glad when Magneto hadn't tried harder to get him to rejoin the Acolytes. He was also glad Magneto hadn't asked him to go track down Sabretooth so they could have a face to face conversation. He wouldn't have any trouble finding Creed; Remy was pretty sure he knew exactly where Creed would still be and he wasn't fond of the idea of going back there.

"He's under a different contract currently," Magneto said breezily. "I believe our debriefing is done for the night, yes, Charles?"

Xavier nodded in agreeance and Remy was struck again by how much reverence and general respect each man held for their "mortal enemy". "Yes. Storm will be here shortly to take you to your rooms. You are welcome to them however long you require staying here."

Magneto almost seemed to be rolling his eyes at the other man and his lips twitched before answering. "We'll start with one night, Charles. Then my team and I will decide what the best course of action is for us."

* * *

Logan had returned, but was now giving information from his phone call to the Professor and Magneto in some secret conference. Rogue wasn't sure why they didn't just tell everyone right now-they were all probably going to find out again tomorrow. She plucked at a loose string on one of her gloves, unsure of what to do when everyone had broken off into smaller groups after the debriefing.

Kitty was off again talking to Piotr. It was almost comical when she looked at the size difference between the two, but the quiet man was so sweet to her old roommate Rogue wasn't about to actually let herself laugh. Jean and Kurt had taken Scott off to get patched up-his leg hadn't been torn up as badly as Rogue had thought, but still required care. Even Gambit was preoccupied, talking to Pyro quietly. There was humor on Pyro's face, but she wasn't sure if that meant a jovial conversation or just that Pyro found everything funny.

She quickly tore her eyes away from that direction. She was not about to let herself get caught again in Gambit's stare. It had happened far too many times today and Rogue was not about to let herself be trapped in the garnet of his eyes one more time if she could help it. She blew some bangs out of her face and turned to walk past him and out the door. There was really no need to stay anymore and she could use a shower to ease away her tension after everything that had happened.

She'd made it no more than five steps towards the door when her arm was grabbed and she was yanked forcefully around, made to turn and look into the eyes of her mother. She glared into Mystique's eyes as she ripped her arm out of Mystique's grasp. Rogue had nothing to say to her and she definitely didn't need to hear anything Mystique was about to say.

"Rogue-"

Before Mystique could really start what she was going to say, Rogue again felt a tug on her arm, pulling her a few feet sideways towards the wall. She was just about done with all the damn tugging at this point. This time the tug on her arm was much more gentle, although it had a firmness to it that kept her from getting too out of sorts as she was again pulled in another direction. Aw, hell. She didn't need to look down at the large hand pulling her to figure out who it was. The immediate warmth Rogue felt coming from his direction told Rogue all that she needed to know, even if he hadn't begun to speak right away.

He pulled her several steps along, a completely amiable and casual air about him like they were just pals going for a walk through the park, following her original path along the hallway to the elevator. After they came up short of the elevator door, Rogue found her back against the corner at the end of the hallway with Gambit leaning over her, shoulder propped against the wall and legs crossed at the ankle. He leaned down to her slightly, continuing to tower over her as his neck craned down towards her face, and his grip on her upper arm loosened but remained all the same.

"What y' think about givin' y' fellow southerner the grand tour 'round here, _chére_?" His bo staff, Rogue noticed, currently was nonchalantly extended from his other hand almost touching her calf as it went downwards to touch the ground past her leg. Between the walls, Gambit, and his staff, Rogue was blocked from her mother on almost all four sides. Mystique was not able to get right up in Rogue's space without knocking Gambit aside or potentially getting thwacked by his staff. Mystique had followed after Rogue as she was tugged away, but with Gambit now towering over Rogue, Mystique couldn't get as close.

"In your dreams, Swamp Rat," she barely managed to get out through gritted teeth. Given the choice between Gambit and Mystique, there was a very clear winner no matter how uncomfortable Gambit made her. She was guessing he'd been counting on that, she just couldn't guess why. Good intentions or not, she was getting very tired of him deciding she needed him to take care of her.

He feigned shock and mock gasped. "_Chére_, how'd y' find out about m' dreams?"

Mystique started to speak to her daughter again, but Rogue refused to look in her direction. She locked her stare on Gambit and played along, rolling her eyes. "Don't take a genius to figure out what you might be dreamin' of, Cajun."

"_Non_? Y' sure y' imagination's as good as mine?"

Rogue blinked, the suggestion clear in his voice. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "I've had you in my head before, Gambit. I reckon I got a decent idea of what's goin' on in that mind'o yours."

Mystique reached in to grab Rogue's arm and Rogue almost winced when Gambit's staff quickly spun upwards, now propped against the wall near Rogue's shoulder instead of her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue could see Mystique fix Gambit with a murderous expression that made the southern belle feel anger of her own, although she wasn't sure which Acolyte to aim it at. Gambit was putting himself in the middle of a mess he might not walk out of with Mystique and although Rogue had no clue what to do with him, she at least knew she didn't want him to suffer at the hands of her crazy mother.

"Could always give y' a refresher if a 'decent' idea's all y' got, _ch__ére_."

She rolled her eyes, feeling incredibly uncomfortable that she had to look at him if she wanted to avoid paying any attention to her mother. "Cram it, Cajun."

He grinned cockily, humor leaking into his voice. At least one of them was amused here. "Careful, _ch__ére_, almost sounds like y' startin' t' like me."

If Rogue really focused, she could hear Mystique trying to speak over the two southerners, but the roaring in her ears (at what she couldn't say: embarrassment? Frustration? Anger? Something else entirely? All of the above? Who knew) and her discomfort kept Rogue's focus easily on Gambit.

"Y' wantin' t' make those dreams a reality, _p'tite_?" He waggled his eyebrows, smirk still settled comfortably upon his face, and Rogue resisted the urge to suckerpunch him in the gut. He seemed to be holding back laughter the more frustrated Mystique got.

Mystique tried to cut in again, only for Rogue to speak over her with a response for Gambit. "You wish."

His smirk deepened, eyes alight with mischief. It was so different from the way he'd looked at her when they'd been fighting on the plane. She wasn't sure if this was worse or better. He leaned closer and this time she let herself lean back from him slightly. There was a flash in his eyes once she did and although he kept up his gremlin demeanor, the spark in his eyes was gone just as quickly as it had come. His tone was just as impish as before, but it had lost some of the energy she usually felt behind his voice when he talked. "Oh, but I do, _chére_. So how's about showin' this Cajun around?"

She scoffed and narrowed her eyes at him. "I think Hank's got the tour covered, Gambit. But if you need any other assistance, I'm sure Scott would be just as happy to help you out."

In her peripheral vision, Rogue saw her mother take off in the opposite direction, fuming yet now deadly quiet from her daughter's stubborn attitude and refusal to speak. Although she was slightly concerned with how easily Mystique gave up, relief washed through Rogue all the same. She was sure Gambit interrupting made matters worse as well and it worried Rogue. She might be pissed at him, but she didn't necessarily want him to have to deal with Mystique's wrath.

The second Rogue knew Mystique was out of earshot, Rogue poked her finger into Gambit's chest. His face had gone carefully blank even before she spoke, voice hissing like a viper. "I don't need your help avoiding Mystique, Gambit."

His lips turned downward enough that she could notice, but the rest of his face stayed neutral, even his eyes. His voice was suddenly so devoid of emotion it was almost startling. "'M well aware, Rogue. You've made that perfectly clear. Don't mean it shouldn't be offered anyway."

And there it was: the same whisper of promises and sweet words he'd caught her with in New Orleans. His voice spoke of connection and mutual respect, but it was entirely too unrealistic to consider. She could only hope someday she might find someone to trust and to have her back while they had hers. Everyone in her life had either let her down or had someone else who came before Rogue. It was just the way things were and Gambit was no exception to the rule.

He seemed to exhale slowly and suddenly he was back to looking at her with that intense look again and she didn't know how many more times she could handle the stress it put her poor heart under as it raced on and on.

"Rogue," he said, his tone back to the warmth she hadn't known she associated with him until that moment. He said her name so softly this time and it was so different from the current established norm that she broke her rule and looked at him directly in the eyes. Not a single part of them was close to touching, but she felt swallowed by his stature all the same. "You might not want me helpin' y' out. That's fine. But that's all I'm tryin' t' do. 'M not tryin' t' do things _for _you, but sometimes y' just too damn stubborn t' ask for help when y' could use it. I told y' I'd be lookin' out f' you. How much clearer do I gotta be, girl?"

As he finished speaking, just as softly as he'd begun, Rogue was struck by the slight cracks in the mask he was always wearing to hide his thoughts from everyone. She'd only seen it once or twice in New Orleans and she was pretty sure he hadn't know his poker face had fallen when it had happened, but when he looked at her this way, almost earnest although still defensive, she couldn't help but want to believe him. He'd told her once that it _is_ nice having someone to watch over you and she had to shove down the part of her that wanted to believe he actually meant it when he'd alluded it to be himself. Maybe it _would_ be nice to not feel so alone and to have someone put her so high up on their priority list, but she wasn't likely to find out. That kind of life wasn't for the untouchable girl who couldn't let anyone get close.

Rogue felt a flush fall over her cheeks, anger welling in her stomach and throat tight. Everything about him, from his cautiously gentle face to his posture to his proximity to the almost pleading look in his eyes made her feel like she was trapped and suffocating in him. Her lips twisted in frustration so she could barely spit out her response. "Well I don't know, Gambit. You've said it over and over and I'm clearly too damn stubborn to understand so why don't you give it a try one more time?"

His jaw tightened and his eyes flashed once more, gentle look gone, as he leaned further in to her space again, bringing their noses dangerously close. "Well _maybe_ I wouldn' have t' say it over and over if y' woulda just listened to me the _first _time."

This time, it was Rogue who was cut off from responding as Hank arrived and his voice rung throughout the hanger bay. It was probably better in the long run she didn't get the chance to explain to him all the reasons she had to not trust his word, even if he might deserve to hear it right now. "Alright, Acolytes. Let's take you to your rooms."

Even as Magneto, Mystique, Pyro, and Piotr made their way to Hank, Gambit stayed rooted in his spot, staring Rogue down. She cleared her throat, hoping that would get him to turn around and walk away. It did, but only after his expression changed again. She tried to quickly translate what his face was saying to her, but she was too slow as his face was back to that same blank mask he hid behind. Rogue wasn't sure why her stomach jerked and flipped uncomfortably when he turned around without a word to go join his teammates. Her cheeks still tinted with frustration, she turned quickly as well to take off for the elevator doors.

* * *

Rogue sighed as she turned off the hot water. She supposed it was probably time to vacate the bathroom and get on with her night. She had homework to finish still and Kitty had probably finished up downstairs and was waiting for the shower. Although the senior X Men team all had their own rooms now (something Bobby heavily protested), they all still shared bathrooms with an adjoining room (except Jean, who had lucked out). Sharing a bathroom with Kitty was no problem after dealing with the communal bathroom in the girl's hallway for so long though so Rogue was happy to make the change.

Rogue held more affection for Kitty than most (outside of maybe Kurt and Logan), but she'd never been so glad as she was when they were told they were each going to have their own room. There was something about having a space that was yours and yours only that gave Rogue peace. She and Kitty had been pretty good at keeping their spaces separate in their old room, but there's only so much you can do when you share a room with someone.

She grabbed a towel and began drying off, mentally ticking through her list of what she needed to prepare for tomorrow. She'd managed to finish her French and Pre-Calc work the night beforehand, so she was only left with a few chapters to read before school started. As she finished drying her body and began fluffing her hair with the towel she snorted to herself remembering Kurt stopping by before she'd managed to get into the shower and asking if she thought Scott would cancel the Danger Room session tomorrow ("Hey, maybe we won't have to play Capture the Flag even if he does run a session!" Kurt had said with all the joy of a puppy). She sure hoped Scott cancelled it. She could use the time in the morning to do her homework and crash now if that was the case. She wrapped the towel around herself and ran a brush through her hair, removing any trace of the natural wave it was already shaping into. She'd have to text Jean and see if she would take one for the team and ask Scott.

She sighed again and unlocked the door that led to Kitty's room so the other girl could use their bathroom before turning to exit into her own room to get dressed.

She made her way to her phone first, sending off a text to Jean about the Danger Room for tomorrow and then made herself busy grabbing her pajamas. Another perk of having her own bedroom, Rogue was happy she now had a place somewhere in the world where she didn't have to be 100% covered up. She could wait to put her gloves on after showering if she wanted (or not even wear them at all until she left her room) and, best of all, she could wear shorts and a tank to her heart's content. She did just that leaving her gloves on the nightstand.

She piddled around tidying up her dresser (mostly to avoid starting her English reading assignment) while she waited for Jean to reply. She began putting away some clothes she had washed the previous night, trying to not let her eyes catch on the stray playing card or the homework assignment with "Rogue, your knowledge of French swears and vulgar phrases is impressive but completely inappropriate. See me after class" scrawled across the top in bright red ink. They hid at the bottom of her sock drawer, somewhere boring enough not many people would think to look through it first. She wasn't sure why she kept the damn things, she thought to herself as she began rushing to finish putting her socks away, just to get her mind off the subject of the person who had gifted them to her.

Maybe it was that when she saw the card she remembered the slight spark of hope he'd given her that he wanted her to be looked after. Or maybe that his answers on her assignment did manage to make her snort in amusement when she would reread them. Or maybe she was a sentimental dumbass who couldn't bring herself to just throw them away for reasons she was choosing to not examine.

She was so absorbed in finishing up her sock drawer that she almost didn't hear a rapping at her balcony doors.

Almost.

Rogue whipped around, already knowing it could be one of two people, and braced herself knowing she really didn't want to deal with Mystique and she didn't want to fight with Gambit anymore today. She shoved her unfolded socks into her drawer to hide the evidence as subtlety as possible and quickly stood to see Remy LeBeau outside on her balcony.

His posture was rigid and his face carefully blank as he looked back at her, waiting to see if she would let him in. For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Gambit's hands were shoved in his pockets and although he was the picture of calm, there was an energy buzzing around him that Rogue felt skittering across her skin from clear across the room.

She hated how it felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. This was Gambit. Just Gambit. She was pissed at him for sure and he had the tendency to make her nervous, but that was no reason for her chest to tighten so much when she saw him. No matter how long it had been since she'd seen him and how surprised she'd been, she shouldn't be having this involuntary reaction. She clenched her fists at her sides as he continued to calmly look back at her, waiting for her to make a decision. She took a deep breath and spoke finally, watching his face for any indication of what was to come. "It's open," she said simply, wondering why the hell she was even letting him come in, and gestured to the door before she bent down to her laundry pile to pull out a hoodie and some knee socks for _some_ sort of coverage.

She pulled the hoodie over her head and gathered her socks, noticing as she stood that Gambit's eyes were now nowhere near her face. His entire form was so frozen that for a moment she wondered if she had actually spoken out loud until she saw his hand was now resting on the door handle, although it was just as frozen as the rest of him.

The only part of him that was moving was his eyes, alight and doing that thing again where they were almost glowing. His eyes raked up and down her form and she was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she'd basically been wearing nothing before she pulled her hoodie on, as well as how short she knew her shorts were (and how much shorter they could have been when she was bent over to pick up her socks). She tried to follow his earlier lead and settled on as neutral of an expression as possible on her face (an incredibly hard task when she could see his eyes continuing to rove over her body and the exposed skin on her legs). She raised an eyebrow at him and turned away from his face, almost feeling dizzy under his continued staring. She had just enough time to walk over to her bed to sit down and start pulling on her gloves from the nightstand before he slowly opened the door, looking down at the handle as he turned it and walked in.

When she sat down and looked back at him, she was half relieved to see his gaze now lay upon her door handle, a slight frown gracing his lips. "Big, fancy mansion and y' Professor cain't bother t' put locks on the doors?"

Rogue finished pulling on her first sock and stopped before grabbing the second, confused. "There's a lock."

He stared at her for a second, exasperation (something she was starting to recognize better and better by the small quirk in one eyebrow paired with several blinks) clear on his face. "This place gets attacked basically every damn week and y' don't lock y' door?"

Rogue frowned and reached to her second sock, pulling it up and over her leg as she responded sarcastically, "most people who wanna get in ain't gonna be stopped by a lock, Cajun."

He scowled but didn't respond, although his disagreement with her statement was palpable in the air. When he didn't respond, she looked up from her leg to his face expectantly. His eyes, which had been unnervingly focused on her face up until that point, were now focused on her hands pulling the sock up her leg. All exasperation was gone from his face, replaced with that look she couldn't decode. His half lidded eyes were laser focused on her half socked leg and she was sure she didn't imagine the heat she felt trail up her legs along with his eyes, as his tongue darted out quickly to wet his lips and he stood there just staring at her. The look made her feel self conscious, although not small. It brought back that funny feeling in her stomach and she still couldn't decide how she felt about that. His eyes lingered on her legs until they travelled upwards to the line of her shorts, which again suddenly felt incredibly small to Rogue.

"You gonna stand there all night, Gambit? Or you got somethin' to say?"

He snapped back into the neutral expression he'd started in, tearing his eyes away from her legs. He could hide his emotions, but she couldn't help but notice how tired he seemed. Although, despite how exhausted he looked, there was still a restless energy about him. He walked over to the top of her dresser, poking a few things here and there and picking up a picture of her, Kurt, and Scott as he started to speak again.

"Took me a while t' find y' new room. Nearly scared the shit outta some kid when I showed up outside where y' old room was." Rogue fought the urge to laugh. Poor Jamie.

Honestly, she didn't know how she felt about him having to find her new room. She hadn't even known Gambit knew where her _old _room was until he had shown up with her backpack, although the knowledge hadn't surprised her at the time. Alarmed her maybe, but he'd told her he'd been watching her for weeks. It was only natural he would have figured out her room back then.

Gambit had set the picture down now and seemed to be trying to look anywhere but her face, a stark although not unwelcome difference. "Got y' arm all taken care of?"

"Huh?" She was momentarily confused before remembering the mark on her arm from battling the Sentinels. She had barely remembered, so she was surprised he did. "Oh. Yeah. Hank fixed me up," she said mentally wincing at how lame that sounded. Good going, Rogue.

He simply nodded and moved over to her bookshelf, looking through what books she had. The whole situation was so bizarre she was having trouble processing it. Before today, they hadn't seen each other in eight months and today they'd spent a large amount of their time around each other bickering, yet here he was walking around her room and looking at everything like this was just a normal Sunday and he came over to visit all the time.

His hands skimmed over the books lightly until he came to the end of her shelf and saw her backpack sitting next to it, the same one he'd returned to her.

His eyebrow raised and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "Guess y' managed t' get the eau de bayou outta this." There was a tinge of humor in his tone.

She cleared her throat, not liking how much weirder this conversation felt every time he switched subjects.

"Didn't really see a point in buyin' a new one, especially when I kept missin' school more often than not," she replied, shrugging.

He nodded in response and Rogue thought she might have imagined a slight turn of his lips downward before it was gone without a trace. Gambit looked on at the backpack a moment longer and she could see his shoulders oddly now had much less tension as he continued to look at the bag a moment longer before turning away from her again. This time he chose to turn his focus to running his quick fingers over the items and knick knacks on top of her bookcase. She was unnerved by how he was moving and acting. It was too casual. Too forced. It was all so perfectly manufactured to put her at ease while he held all the playing cards. She wasn't sure what to do, but an angry response felt disingenuous even if it felt more comfortable than anything else, so she remained quiet, seated on the edge of her bed. He kept his focus on the random jewelry and pens on her bookshelf and she found that at this angle she couldn't see his expression at all.

"Y' didn't rat me out t' y' professor," he drawled, tone casual yet incredibly controlled at the same time. She wasn't sure what to say and she had no explanation for why she'd chosen to keep the information Gambit had given her about the Sentinels and their upgrades to herself. She looked down, deciding that perhaps not answering might be the best call.

He didn't turn to look when she didn't respond, simply picked up a few items or books to get a closer look before placing them back where she'd originally had them. He kept his back to hers as he circled the room, taking in the few posters and pictures she had on her wall as well as pausing momentarily on her pile of unfolded clothes. She tried not to blush when she realized she had several bras and pairs of underwear right on top of the pile.

He turned to her, and although his gaze seemed fixed on her shoulder instead of her face, his tone had changed back to that teasing note and a grin broke across his face. "Didn't picture you f' a lace kinda gal, _chére_."

She knew she was _actually _blushing now and had he not quickly backed away from the pile she would have been about half a second from launching herself in his direction to knee him in the crotch. He gave a half laugh at whatever look had fallen over her face and moved towards her, making her bristle even more. She watched him warily, not taking her eyes off his face. He was still not looking her in the eyes and while it allowed her to continue to examine him closer, it made her wary.

He stopped a few feet in front of her, eyes off to the side and hands back in his pockets. "M' not sure how t' do this."

She blinked, confused. "...do what?"

He sighed and sat himself next to her on the bed, elbows resting on his knees and his face in his hands as he rubbed his eyes. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to make room for him or stand or stay where she was...no one had ever sat on her bed with her before. "This," he said one he'd finished rubbing his face and gestured between them.

She knew confusion showed on her face, but she couldn't help it. What _about _them? He lifted his face up, but he was looking off distantly to the other side of her room instead of in her direction.

Rogue wasn't used to being the one trying to get someone to look back at her. Generally the less people she had looking at her, the better. Yet here she was trying to get him to look her in the eyes, the exact opposite of what her goal had been for the majority of the day. She stared at him, hoping he would get the message and just look back at her.

She saw his eyes flicker in her direction, definitely taking in the fact that she was looking at him dead on but choosing to look ahead instead of meet her eye contact.

"This?" she asked, mouth suddenly very dry. His gesture between the two of them could mean so many different things and Rogue would freely admit she had very little clue which "this" it would be. She understood Gambit decently well sometimes, but this was not one of those times. Honestly she was too tired to guess at this point.

Gambit's head turned her way a fraction before snapping back to the picture of her and Kitty across the room on her wall. Rogue almost sighed as she continued to stare at the Cajun, waiting for him to just turn around and fix her with that insufferable smirk he always wore.

He snorted softly, eyes very focused on his hands now. "Y' got a better descriptor?"

She swallowed hard, uncertainty giving her stubbornness an extra edge. "I -damnit would you just look at me for a second?"

He visibly winced and finally met her eyes. "Didn't wanna accidentally charm y' or something. Didn't think either of us would want that."

"...oh." Again, a very intelligent and smooth response. She was on a roll tonight.

She curled her legs up to her chest and leaned back against the wall, still watching his face as she put her chin on her knees. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he was wrestling with something, she just had no idea if she was going to like what he was wrestling with.

He frowned again and let out a dry, humorless laugh, his brow furrowed and frustration incredibly clear across every muscle in his body from his face to the hunch of his shoulders and his fidgeting hands. "This how it's gonna be?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"You givin' me the silent treatment. That how this is gonna go?"

She looked down at her toes, not sure how to answer that. She _had_ no answer for him even if she wanted to give one. She wasn't purposefully choosing not to answer, just...uncharacteristically unable to answer him. Something about him was making her too damn tongue tied today. She'd spent her entire day thrown out of her element and him being in her bedroom _on her bed_ was only making everything feel more surreal. Anyone else and she would have had a million things to say, but with Gambit she was thrown for a loop.

He looked down at his own feet, his jaw working overtime, before pulling out a deck of cards and starting to shuffle them idly. "Guessin' an apology ain't gonna change much at this point, eh, _chére_?"

She turned her face in his direction, cheek resting on her knees, and looked him square in the face even if he was incredibly focused on the cards moving between his hands. Just as she was about to speak, he continued on, his quiet tone making the timbre of his voice even deeper and warmer. "Can't say I don't blame y'. Not really sure an apology can make up for bein' kidnapped. And lied to." His cards moved smoothly and quietly, even as the speed of his shuffles increased. His voice was so casual it was unnerving. "And there's the radio silence too. Even bigger of a dick move after I gave y' a way to call if y' needed." His cards flew quickly from hand to hand, the complexity of his movements increasing the more he spoke, although the calm demeanor never left his voice. "Probably shouldn't even be hopin' t' make it up t' you neither."

She snorted and he finally looked back at her, deck of cards halting for him to begin playing with just one card, traveling across his hand through his fingers back and forth, as he carefully and almost warily watched her face. "Not sure why you'd wanna, Gambit."

She looked away from his face after speaking. Something about admitting what she was actually thinking was made all the more uncomfortable by locking eyes with him. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she leaned further back against the wall behind her. "I'm not doin' in on purpose." He continued to look at her seriously, giving her room to clarify. "I'm not tryin' to give you the silent treatment. I just don't know what to say." He raised an eyebrow at her as he turned his body in her direction, one leg hanging off the edge of the bed but his other folding itself up onto the mattress so he could lean towards her better.

She frowned, continuing to walk the line between comfort and discomfort. Every word was incredibly terrifying to say, but she'd freely admitted things to Gambit in New Orleans she'd never have been admit to anyone else. The part of her that wasn't pissed off and confused knew their mutual understanding was what allowed her to speak freely to him, even if she didn't fully get why. "I don't know what it is you're wantin' from me here, Cajun," she finished quietly, picking at her comforter.

He continued to watch her, and she was struck by how the shadows and light played across his face to make his expression that much more serious. He looked at her for a moment longer and she was surprised to realize his card had stilled. His hand now rested on her comforter, close to her own as he leaned toward her a little more. His voice was just as soft as he answered. "I dunno. Somethin' like N'awlins?"

She turned from her comforter (and their incredibly close hands) to look at him and their eyes met again, now firmly and stubbornly locked in to one another. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting to hear but that definitely wasn't it.

"Wasn't all bad, was it?" Underneath his confidence and bravado, she saw a quick flicker in his eyes and heard a subtle note in his voice that was so familiar and genuine it made the clenching in her chest start anew. It shouldn't have been familiar, she'd only seen it briefly for moments here and there throughout their excursion in New Orleans. But from those moments, she remembered not only the camaraderie it had brought her, but also she could remember how he had felt.

His psyche had been gone from her head so quickly after New Orleans, but there had been enough time for her to gather flashes of his thoughts she knew neither of them were comfortable with him to voicing in the real world. She remembered his desperation. She remembered him thinking how easy it could be to steal Rogue away. She remembered him concocting the perfect plan, the right words to say, the exact traumas they shared to touch upon to start bonding. She remembered him working to keep the mission on task at all costs. She hadn't liked those parts of his memories so much (neither had his psyche), but, as with all people she touched, she was powerless to choose what she took.

She also remembered his own words sounding fake to his ears the more they talked. The gross feeling in his stomach whenever he'd have to switch them from genuine conversation to part of his script. How he'd felt their constant snarking and sarcasm had made both of them feel safe enough to actually just talk to someone and how it was nice for once to feel that way. Almost like having a friend. How he'd felt he really did understand her and he'd hoped she actually understood him back. She remembered him realizing he'd been wrong. That he shouldn't have done this to her and part of him wishing he'd had no ulterior motive and the story he'd told her was true. That he was sorry.

It was why she'd gone back for him.

"No," she agreed, searching his face. "It wasn't all bad."

A gentle smile, one she was sure she'd never gotten to see before, graced his lips. It was almost shy and she couldn't stop her lips from answering with a small smile back.

He looked down again, choosing his words carefully before looking back up at her. She wasn't sure bashful was a word she had ever associated with Gambit before, yet here he was the very picture of it. It was almost sweet seeing him so out of his element and she was having trouble deciding if she should listen to her knee jerk reaction that trusting anything he said or did was a bad idea after how New Orleans had ended.

"Y' think we could ever be like that again?"

She must have been quiet too long because he continued on, wry humor back in his voice, before she could speak. "Without the kidnapping this time."

She couldn't help it; she laughed. It wasn't that no one at the Institute made her laugh (she'd never admit how funny Bobby could be), just that it seemed to be very rare when it actually happened. She could be honest enough with herself to admit she had liked _that_ part of New Orleans. "That'd be preferred, Swamp Rat."

He chuckled with her for a moment before continuing on. "Think y' can handle Cyclops' reaction to being on okay terms with y' kidnapper?"

Rogue snorted, an incredulous look on her face. "Considering he doesn't officially know you kidnapped me, I think he'll just have to deal with it."

Gambit looked surprised. She half smiled, an eyebrow raised at his expression as she continued on, voice a little less strong and feeling slightly uncomfortable admitting to him she'd continued to cover his ass even after they parted. "Just 'cause you kidnapped me doesn't mean you deserved bein' on Logan's hit list. I told my team you asked for my help and I agreed. Scott sayin' kidnappin' was all him."

His eyes flickered past several emotions again at that and the ghost of a soft smile remained on his lips and was his hand always that close to hers or was she just imagining things? "Y' didn't have t' cut me slack."

"I know. But like I said, you did the wrong thing for the right reason. It sucked, but I got it, even if I knew my team wouldn't."

A silence fell over them as he nodded, but it was no longer as awkward or loaded. "I woulda come back for Apocalypse if I could've." She almost jumped when she felt his pinky barely brush against her thumb, but forced herself to not give him any reaction to his casual touching, like playing a game of chicken. If he could be brave (she assumed) and come talk to her like this, she could pretend to be brave and not jump away from him. "Was on m' way once I saw y' text. Jus'...didn't get to follow through."

Rogue turned to look at him, and was suddenly disturbed to see an almost haunted look behind everything else in his eyes. She'd seen the expression in her own eyes before and she found she really didn't like seeing it on Gambit's face. It only exacerbated his exhaustion and she got the feeling whatever he'd been in the middle of had been just as much of an ordeal as Apocalypse, only he'd probably had to handle it alone. Maybe worse if he couldn't hide that look in his eyes from her. She knew he wouldn't intentionally be giving away any of his secrets that easily and that made her ability to read him so clearly that much more disturbing.

"You can tell me about it another time," she said firmly, although she put effort into keeping her tone somewhat soft, trying to match his. She knew he hadn't been about to tell her anything, but without knowing anything about what happened, Rogue knew she really didn't want him to feel like he owed her any explanation if the story brought that involuntary expression out of him. It was incredibly unnerving.

He moved himself to lean against the wall next to her, their shoulders a few inches apart, and she watched as he pulled out a card again, fidgeting with it as he moved it from finger to finger.

"Hey, Gambit?"

He snorted. "Remy."

"R-right," Rogue wasn't sure she'd be making that leap any time soon. Something about calling him by his real name felt like a line she wasn't ready to cross just yet. She hadn't even called him Remy in New Orleans so he had another thing coming if he thought she was about to start right away. She took a slow deep breath in before continuing, asking him something that had been on her mind since their first fight of the day. "If the Sentinels were all that was in the crate yard, why did you keep blockin' me from walkin' away from the direction they came from?"

Gambit looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his head tilting towards her slightly to show off his shit eating grin. "Didn't want y' t' have t' deal with mommy dearest if y' didn't have t'. Fuck, I didn't want t' have t' deal wit' her m'self, t' be honest."

Rogue's eyebrows raised and she pulled a face at the mention of Mystique, but she didn't turn her face towards his, despite knowing he was continuing to watch her carefully. "Can't say I blame you."

He chuckled, voice deep with the warmth of his laughter again. "Was hopin' y' wouldn't."

Rogue was about to respond, to ask why he would walk back into the Acolytes, why he would choose to work with Mystique if he hated her so much, if he was back by choice or by necessity, when her phone buzzed on the nightstand. She leaned onto her knees to grab the phone, hoping it was Jean with some good news.

She settled herself back against the wall, situating herself criss cross before swiping the screen up and seeing the amazing news that the morning Danger Room session was cancelled tomorrow. When she turned back to Gambit, she noticed that curiously his eyes weren't on her face or his card or even her phone, but back on the exposed skin between her socks and her shorts. She wanted to scoff and ask what the hell he was even looking at, but she decided that might alter the very delicate balance they'd just struck. Instead she spoke cautiously all the same, trying to keep the massive discomfort at the path his eyes were taking out of her voice. "Well, if one good thing came out of the Sentinels showing up, it's that now I don't have to do a Danger Room session in the morning."

His head snapped up to meet her eyes again and she found herself really wanting to ask him if she was imagining his eyes glowing and also why they did that.

"That mean you can stay up later?" He asked casually.

She frowned, staring at her homework sitting on the nightstand. "Technically, but then I'd have to finish my English homework in the morning before school."

"Thought you were a senior last year." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "How come y' still in school, _chére_?"

"Turns out even if you saved the world, you don't get any slack from Principal Kelly. Missed too much school and couldn't keep up so I'm havin' to repeat." It was a sore spot and not fun for her to admit.

"Figures. That Kelly guy sure likes to make mutant lives harder."

She nodded in agreement and reached for her book. "I should probably just read it tonight. I never get to sleep in."

"Well if y' wantin' a homework buddy, I could always stick around," for a brief moment she could have almost sworn he was looking for her to give him a reason to stay a little longer.

"Oh no, Swamp Rat. Last time you helped me with homework I ended up in a 30 minute meeting over the merits of using appropriate language and phrases."

He laughed, a loud laugh that she remembered hearing once before. It was kind of nice and it made his face all the more handsome when a smile stretched across his face and his eyes twinkled with mischief. "Can't believe y' actually turned that in. Y' got an A though, right?"

She looked at him incredulously, "You're kiddin', right? A big, fat F."

He looked and sounded so offended she almost laughed. "That was perfect French. Didn't even throw in any Cajun phrases. Y' teacher's an idiot."

"To be fair, she complimented my ability to suddenly be able to conjugate verbs," she smiled. "Woulda gotten an F anyway if I'd done it. At least that way I got to laugh at the faces she made when she read what you wrote. "

His forehead furrowed at that and he fixed her with an incredibly confused expression. "What'd'y mean 'woulda gotten an F anyway'? Y' always doin' homework."

Rogue raised an eyebrow but chose to not comment on his awkward mention of information he must have gathered from his time "watching over" her, especially when his face showed he was ready to jump in and try to correct that blunder. She cut him off before he could, knowing with how amped up she was (and he must be too to have lose his calm, smooth demeanor) their somewhat truce with one another could go down the toilet pretty quickly. She was curious enough to see where this could be going that she wanted to keep them out of the danger zone. "That don't help the fact that I just suck at French."

"Well, good thing y' happen t' now be on decent terms wit' someone who speaks French fluently."

"Don't know how much that'd help. Logan knows French too-he tried to help. Just can't get it to stick in my brain."

"Mebbe y' just need y'self a better tutor than Wolvie. "

She grinned. "Better not let him catch you sayin' that, Swamp Rat."

Gambit rolled his eyes at her. "Remy."

She looked down at her hands. He was really gonna keep insisting on that, huh? She shook her head, deciding a subject change was safest. "Probably should have just taken German. I caught on to what Kurt taught me much quicker than anything in French class."

"Could be y' French teacher have just been shit though," he said, an almost cute frown on his face. "An F? Seriously?"

Rogue actually laughed this time at his disbelief and she was almost gratified to hear him laugh along with her. Yeah. She definitely _had _liked that part of New Orleans, she mused as she agreed with her previous sentiment. She looked away, finding that looking at him too much right now as they laughed and smiled together.

"Guess 'm jus' gonna have t' try again. Where's y' French homework?" Rogue was struck by the familiarity in his determined look. It reminded her slightly of when they'd been playing cards in their train car on the way to New Orleans. He'd been telling her stories to pass the time, his hair horror story among them, until eventually she'd been laughing along with him and his look of determination had flowed into something else she hadn't been able to translate at the time. She was a little surprised at herself that she wanted to say the right thing this time so she could have a second chance to figure it out.

She hummed, not able to keep herself from smiling a little still, "All finished for tomorrow. You're just gonna have to wait 'till next time, Cajun. Gonna earn an F all on my own this time."

He laughed again, although more subdued this time, and smiled at her. "Guess I'll leave y' to it then." He got off the bed and stood but paused before he stepped off anywhere. She looked up at him expectantly.

Before he turned to walk out the balcony doors, he hesitated a moment before fiddling with something in his hand. "_Chére_?"

She raised her eyebrows, allowing him to continue. He hesitated and looked down quickly, indecision dancing quickly through his eyes before he looked back to her, now holding something out to her. She unfolded her legs and moved to sit forward on her knees so she could take whatever he was holding out to her. She probably should have expected it to be a card.

"_Merci_," he finally said as she took the card, a guarded but somewhat relaxed smile on his face. She was pretty sure it was the card he'd been playing with during their conversation.

"_De rien_."

He burst out laughing. "Okay first thing's first, we gotta fix y' accent." Her jaw dropped and he laughed harder.

She waved her hand at him, rolling her eyes and gesturing for him to go, a smile she couldn't resist still on her face as she sat back on her knees still holding the card. He was still grinning by the time he spoke. "See y' tomorrow then, housemate. We got a lotta work t' do on y' French. Oh, an' don't f'get y' still owe me a tour'a this place." She started to protest she'd never technically agreed to either plan even as he grinned cheekily and gave her a two finger salute. He walked out the balcony doors and immediately hopped up onto the railing, jumping to the next room's balcony on his way back to his own room. She caught herself laughing a little more before grabbing her book, remembering the last time he'd handed her a card and ran off with a salute.

She didn't need to check which card was in her hand, but when she finally finished her reading and made the card into a bookmark before turning off the lights, she smiled all the same when her eyes confirmed he'd given her another Queen of Hearts.


	7. Chapter 7

I LIIIIIIIVE!

Okay so this chapter took a while to be posted and stuff, which was not my plan. Life kind of blew up the last few weeks but honestly seeing the kindness and comments and stuff from people has been so great and has kept me keeping moving along (very slowly at first).

My boyfriend of five years and I broke up or went on a break (it's unclear) and it put me in a huge funk so writing was just not happening. I super appreciate the people who saw my tumblr posts and responded in some way or form-it was very kind and it helped even if I didn't respond at the time.

On top of that I'm a teacher and life just got crazy prepping for spring break (and schools closing due to Corona now too DX)

Second to lastly, huge huge thank you and shoutout to thehazeofdusk who helped with some awkward phrasing I had/beta reading AND for the extra support and content to read to help keep my mind off of things. She always has the best thoughts to push me in the right direction!

AND lastly, there is a fanart that inspired a moment in the fic. I'll link it at the end of the chapter :)

So without further ado, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy :)

**Chapter 7**

Although she'd been able to finish her reading fairly quickly the night before and had gotten to sleep in, getting through the school day was quite an ordeal for Rogue. Every class dragged on and on and by the time the final bell rang, Rogue felt like she'd already done an entire week of school in that one day.

"How is it we didn't have to do the Danger Room this morning and I'm still totally exhausted?" Kitty sighed dramatically, closing her locker with a resounding thunk.

"Well did you go to sleep at a normal hour? Or did you stay up all night coding again?" Rogue asked as she rolled her eyes.

Kitty's lower lip jutted out in a pout and Rogue had to laugh, knowing she was right and that was exactly what the girl had been up to until all hours of the night. "I'm not Lance. That ain't gonna work on me, Kit."

Kitty let out a frustrated growl (Rogue was starting to wonder just how many of Logan's students had picked up that trait from him) but continued their walk to the pick up section of the school where Scott and Jean would be arriving from their day of college to take the senior team home. Another perk of being on a mission all day yesterday; Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue hadn't had to carpool with the younger X Men to school. Much less chaotic and much more time to get ready.

"Ain't my fault you stayed up til all hours of the night working on your computer program."

"At least _I _didn't have a guy in my room after curfew."

Rogue froze unintentionally, but knew from the smug look on her old roommate's face there was no hiding the facts anyway. Kitty squealed, clapping her hands, all previously mentioned exhaustion wiped from her face. "So who was it? Was it that cute guy?"

Rogue froze again momentarily before feeling her entire body buzz with annoyance and panic. "You think they're all cute."

Kitty wagged her finger at Rogue, a mischievous smile wide across her features. "Oh no you don't. Deflection isn't gonna help you here. I sense drama and I want it _now_."

"W-what?" Rogue sputtered, caught between her annoyance and her want to not hurt Kitty's feelings. "I'm not deflecting!"

"And there you go again not addressing the issue."

"What issue?" Rogue's nose crinkled as she smelled the tell tale signs of Kurt porting nearby.

Great.

"There's no issue," Rogue said quickly, resisting the urge to swat at her old roommate. Kitty trying to weasel the story out of her was one thing, but if Kurt found out then Scott would find out. And if Scott found out, Logan would find out. She wasn't exactly sure how the tentative truce she and Gambit had called was going to go, but she was pretty sure it would go down the drain if Logan murdered the Cajun.

They were almost to Scott's car. If they could just make it there, maybe Kitty would have the decency to decide to not bring up the subject in front of Scott. The petite girl loved drama, but Rogue was hopeful that she would use her gigantic brain to not bring up her suspicions to their team leader.

"There's totally an issue. You won't beli-" Rogue stuck her foot out to the side as they walked, making Kitty stumble. Kurt rushed to help the smaller girl and as Kitty righted herself, Scott and Jean pulled up to the group.

"Rogue, what the h-" Kitty seemed to take in the pleading look in Rogue's eyes, and shut her mouth. If Kurt, Jean, or Scott noticed how abruptly Kitty stopped talking, no one said anything, much to Rogue's great relief. Before climbing into the car, Kitty looked back at Rogue, a meaningful look in her eyes.

Rogue tucked some bangs out of her face and moved to get towards the car before feeling a hand gently touch her shoulder. Jean was quick to remove her hand at least. Between Gambit and Mystique and now Jean, Rogue wasn't sure how much she could handle people touching her and pulling her aside to converse.

"Sorry, I..." Jean looked frustrated. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Okay. I just..."

"Jean, spit it out."

"You just have so much anxiety coming through your thoughts. Did something happen at school?"

Rogue's eyes widened in anger. "You read my thoughts?" She'd thought she was putting up her mental blocks to make sure Jean wouldn't see anything about Gambit in them. Especially the part about her letting him into her room after curfew.

Jean was quick to correct herself. "No! No! I promise. I didn't read your actual thoughts. You're just projecting a lot of anxiety and I've been having trouble not picking up on that kind of stuff lately."

Rogue let out a slow breath, relieved. But now she was worried about something else entirely: Jean's powers had been growing and acting up for a while now. She remembered the last time Jean's powers had gotten out of control...although she knew her freak out at the concert wasn't much better.

Jean looked embarrassed and rambled on, rushing to explain. "Not so much with the telekinesis lately. But telepathy yeah. The professor thinks he has a solution though." Rogue nodded, hoping it would be enough to let Jean off the hook of feeling like she needed to explain further. If there was anyone who understood powers being uncontrollable, it was Rogue. She didn't like this, but she was sure no one liked it when her powers got out of control either. She nodded at the older girl to end the conversation, signaling no harm no foul, and slid into the car next to Kitty, who was giving her a very pointed look that said something along the lines of 'if you don't get your ass up to our suite stat to explain everything to me you're in so much trouble'.

* * *

The senior X Men unloaded from Scott's car and Rogue suddenly felt a jolt of uncertainty wondering if the Acolytes were even going to still be at the mansion. Magneto had said they'd evaluate after the night, so for all she knew Gambit and his team could be gone. The whole house seemed quiet in general, and Rogue had a giant clusterfuck of feelings in her chest about that, none of which she cared to investigate. She was probably just exhausted and that was making things more overwhelming. Besides. She didn't necessarily _want _Gambit to still be there...for all she knew, he would be gone for another eight months again. It would just maybe be a little sort of kind of nice to see him after their conversation and maybe understand a little more what their conversation the previous night would lead to.

Either way, Scott seemed to be determined for life to carry on as normal: they had no sooner made it into the house than he announced that now would be a perfect time for an after school Danger Room session. Rogue wanted to ask if he was kidding, but there was no use in that: He wasn't. Scott had his business "I'm the leader" voice on as he ordered them to go suit up.

With no Logan or Storm in sight, command fell to Scott and he was clearly very prepared to use that power, much to everyone else's chagrin. The only upside was that potentially Rogue could time things right to get into her uniform quickly and manage to zoom past Kitty's planned interrogation. All she had to do was make it to the Danger Room before Kitty could catch her; Scott had zero tolerance for gossiping during a session and (not for the first time) Rogue was grateful for this.

She pulled her uniform suit on in record time and was already out her bedroom door before finishing latching her leg and chest armor, just in time to hear Kitty burst through the door from their shared bathroom in hot pursuit. Without looking back, Rogue speed walked her way to the elevator, incredibly aware of the pint sized maniac gaining on her and the fact that racing to get to the elevator and closing the door behind her wasn't necessarily going to stop Kitty's phasing.

Rogue dove for the elevator and slammed her fist on the door close button, hoping the elevator would start moving quickly enough Kitty would chicken out and not jump through the doors. The elevator started moving downwards and Rogue strained to listen for if she could hear Kitty's voice through the closed doors. Luckily, there was no sound and Rogue leaned back against the wall as she sighed in relief. It was only then she had the wherewithal to look around and notice she was not alone in the elevator.

"...anything I should know, Stripes?"

Rogue froze before turning to face her mentor, trying to keep her expression as normal as possible. Logan was _definitely_ among the last on a long list of people Rogue would want to admit anything to concerning Kitty hearing a guy in Rogue's room past curfew. Especially since the guy just so happened to have been Gambit. She was lucky enough Logan hadn't done a sweep of the senior X Men hallway the previous night and smelled the Cajun had been there-especially during the time he'd been physically in her room.

"...Nope."

Logan raised an eyebrow, but didn't push. She wouldn't have expected him to, but it still made her freshly grateful he didn't ever pry. Although it was just as much for his comfort as her own, it was still one of Rogue's favorite things about him.

"Guessin' by the uniform Cyke already has you guys headed to the Danger Room."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Didn't even make it in the house before he told us to suit up."

"Sounds about right," Logan snorted and leaned back against the wall. "Saves me the trouble anyway. Was headed up to bring you guys down when you got home anyway."

"You runnin' the session?" While she knew Scott would be beyond pissed at that, Rogue was kind of excited by the idea of getting to do a standard Logan session. Anything but having to play Capture the Flag again would be better, even if Logan's Danger Room courses were killer.

"No such luck, kid," Logan said gruffly, although she knew she didn't miss a ghost of him hiding his laugh at her hopeful expression. "Chuck and Metalhead requested we get you guys downstairs as soon as school got out so we could all meet and not have to repeat the same information over and over."

Rogue tried to not let herself perk up at the mention of Magneto still being there. This was stupid. Just because Gambit was maybe actually still there and they were on okay terms that didn't mean it was something to focus on. She had much bigger fish to fry. Still..."Didn't really expect Magneto to stay."

"They didn't at first. Magneto took his team and they tried to check their base. Charles said the Sentinels were gonna be there and he was right. Didn't take them long to come runnin' back. We're gonna be stuck with them for a while."

Rogue didn't respond and also tried to not consider the fact that this meant Gambit was potentially about to be living at the Institute for the time being. Partially, that made Rogue incredibly uncomfortable and the fact that she didn't know why made her even _more _uncomfortable. But part of her (probably the same part that had been willing to sit back and let Gambit talk to her last night) was curious what that could be like. It's not like just because they talked and he was temporarily here she was about to be spending every second with him or like he was going to want to be around her constantly, but Rogue did wonder if perhaps it might be interesting to have him around. Maybe it might be nice to have someone around to hang out with a little bit instead of reading a book to avoid people flinching away from her skin. That was another train of thought in and of itself: she had friends, sure, but something about Gambit didn't mix into her thoughts of regular life at the institute, especially with her small circle of people here.

Something about the image of Gambit hanging out casually with her around Kurt or Scott or Jean nearby felt almost comical. Sure he was similar to Rogue, but when she tried to group him with institute friends in her head, he stood out to her almost comically. Then again, he always seemed to do that in her brain. No matter what, he always stood apart from everyone else-no real category or label for who or what he was to her. He was probably her friend, she supposed, but also their friendship felt so different from any other friendship she had that calling it simply "friendship" felt disingenuous. It wasn't like she had much by way of friendships to compare him to in the first place though.

The elevator doors opened and Rogue was not surprised to see Kitty waiting there, hands on her hips as she breathed hard, doing her best impression of Scott when Duncan used to come around Jean. Only Logan exiting the elevator at the same time as Rogue was her saving grace.

"Need somethin', Half-Pint?"

Kitty blinked quickly, her anger momentarily paused, and looked between Wolverine and Rogue. Rogue stared at her friend directly in the eyes, not willing to outwardly beg her to keep her mouth shut, but also wishing Kitty were suddenly a telepath so she could understand that this was _not_ a subject she wanted anyone privy too, but especially Logan.

"Get movin', we got a meeting to get to."

"Oh, _Gott sei Dank_! So we don't have to train?" If you'd asked Rogue seconds beforehand, she would have thought Kurt coming down the stairs (followed by Jean and Scott) at that very moment would have made things a million times worse, but she was instead proven wrong and forever grateful for it.

"Charles wants us in a meeting with Magneto and his team in the Control Room. Let's get movin'."

Rogue pointedly tried to ignore Kitty's eyes boring into the side of her skull as she snuck past to follow Logan with Kurt and Jean. She should have known Kitty would station herself at her side, continuing to watch her like a hawk as they headed to meet with the Acolytes. Scott quickly followed after, bringing up the rear, grumbling all the way.

* * *

If it were possible to fall asleep with eyes open, Remy would like to think he could have achieved it that day. Between his inability to sleep in unfamiliar places, his brain refusing to stop playing his conversation with Rogue over and over, the early morning wake up call from John (not that he'd actually been sleeping), the trip to find Sentinels already at the Acolyte base, several hours of meetings, and waiting to have even _more _meetings once the X Men got home from school, he was dead on his feet.

He ran his hand through his hair and down his face, brushing past his five o clock shadow and doing his best to look like he gave half a shit about what Magneto was continuing to drone on about. It was all pointless right now anyway, they weren't going to make any decisions until all the X Men got there. He didn't see why they had to sit around and continue to talk the same things over while they waited. Nothing new had been said in the last (mandatory) few hours of meetings. He was having trouble focusing on anything they were saying, partially due to the repetitive circular nature of Magneto and Xavier discussing the situation.

At least of all the mutants in the room, no one's lack of focus could compare to Pyro's. The poor guy had been fidgeting and unable to stop moving since the first hour of meeting to discuss the Sentinel threat. By now, their third hour, Pyro looked about ready to jump out of his skin, doing his best to look somewhat professional as he paced around the room from the couch to where Remy leaned against the back wall over and over. On the couch, Pete sat stoically and calmly but Remy liked to think he knew the guy well enough to see even _he_ was unable to hide he was bored out of his skull.

Remy used to think nothing would be more boring than Magneto on a rant. He had never considered that putting Magneto and Professor X in charge of a meeting together could be even longer and even more tedious. The constant politeness throughout their heated debates had been enough to keep Remy interested for the first hour, but after that he'd been unable to stop himself from going off into his own thoughts. Anything to not have to hear "old friend" one more time.

Frustratingly, even though things were way less tense between them, his brain was still determined to playback his nighttime discussion with Rogue. He wasn't sure he'd expected her to actually give him a chance to speak. He'd been sitting there in his room for the night (probably officially for a few nights for now, at least until the Sentinels were gone), feeling antsier than he would have anticipated, debating how long he would be able to smoke before one of the X Men broke in and ruined his small attempt at relaxation. He could never really feel comfortable in a place until he knew it well enough and he only knew the outside of the X Mansion, so he'd been aware getting sleep wouldn't be much of an option (not that it was most nights anymore anyway) but sneaking a smoke was something he was willing to bet he could get away with, even with Wolverine's super nose.

He'd been out the balcony doors hopping from railing to railing quickly, deciding the idea of having to deal with an angry Wolverine could end up more fun than annoying in the end. Maybe pissing off Wolvie was just the outlet he needed, even if he couldn't finish his smoke. Either way he would get a chance to get some of his body to calm the fuck down. It's not like he would ever be there for any amount of permanent time anyway. Pissing off the adult X Men didn't really have any consequences.

Try as he might to say he was going down towards the cliffs for a better chance at a longer smoke, he'd still ended up headed towards what he'd thought was Rogue's room, although he only came to realize his destination when he'd found her room occupied by someone else (something which had initially concerned him until he realized the room was redecorated in a style he knew she wouldn't choose herself). From there, it was only logical he'd needed to find where Rogue's room was now. Even with her pissed off at him, she'd still chosen to have his back earlier. If worse came to worst and the Sentinels came here, it was smart for him to already know where she could be.

He hadn't known, honestly, what he'd intended to do when he found her. It was late enough she could be asleep, but that was unlikely. He'd know from his time spying for Magneto she preferred getting chores done at night and reading before bed. But he was a master thief..he could easily scout out her room and sneak away with her none the wiser. That had been the plan at least. Unfortunately, something about Rogue tended to get him to act before he was able to think things through and no sooner had he found her room than he'd jumped down on her porch and found himself tapping at her door.

It was a stupid move and he didn't understand why he'd actually done it. He'd just known he wanted her to understand. Needed _someone _to understand (even if he could only handle them reaching back to him on a surface level) and who better than Rogue? She'd understood him some before, he'd thought, just as he'd understood her with no pressure to explain or justify. It was probably selfish and _definitely _weak for him to want that from her, but he'd wanted that connection back that they'd made in New Orleans. To explore whatever connection they'd found and maybe find some of what he had lost through it. They were two sides of a coin, afterall. He'd found several epiphanies about himself through months of watching her and maybe that was what he needed now. Maybe he could return the debt he owed her and keep her side of the coin from becoming as aged and damaged as his own. Maybe he could actually help both of them this time, instead of potentially helping her as a byproduct of helping himself.

He'd known the second Mystique walked onto the plane that every door they'd hesitantly cracked open for one another had been slammed shut on Rogue's side and the only way he could hope to remedy that was to get her to hear him out, despite his complete confusion on where to even start. With most everyone, he knew what to say to make them believe him. He knew what buttons to push and which angles to take to get his way. If all else failed, he could easily charm anyone into having a little faith in him to get a conversation started. But he didn't want that with Rogue-the thought of it made his stomach turn, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it. He'd quickly found out in New Orleans how it felt to persuade her and trick her into seeing things his way and he'd found out just as quickly how much better it felt when she chose to trust him all on her own.

Him. Not the tales he spun to get to his end goal or the front everyone else bought. She'd chosen to trust _him_. She'd decided _he _was worth it (even after she figured out his game) and she'd stuck around until he was out of his mess. Although it defied all logic and went against every rule he'd made for himself his entire life and he couldn't for the life of him explain why he was so drawn to Rogue, Remy wanted that again. Although technically he knew he didn't just want the same thing again. He wanted it for real this time.

Whatever it was.

It was a terrible plan really, knocking on her door and figuring the words he needed would come to him (they always did, although apparently Rogue broke more of his rules and norms than he'd realized), but he still hadn't been able to stop himself from sitting down next to her and trying to explain, to hopefully get back to that easy almost friendship and connection. Not an easy task, especially considering the large amount of discomfort both were dealing with.

But still she'd listened, which was honestly more than he'd deserved. She had given him a chance. She had - shit, she had just walked through the Control Room doors, almost as if she'd been summoned from out of his brain and into the real world. Finally _something _interesting was about to happen.

Their eyes met briefly as she walked in the doors, flanking Wolverine, before she quickly looked toward her Professor, corners of her lips turned downward in an adorable, serious frown.

"Well, we might as well begin," Xavier began, fingers steepled.

"Begin!?" Even Remy almost jumped as John wailed and almost flopped over the back of the couch, sliding face down into the couch cushions next to Pete.

Remy watched closely with narrowed eyes as Mystique rolled her eyes at John from next to Magneto, as if by standing there she had any authority in this room or situation.

Seemingly choosing to ignore John's outburst, Xavier turned towards Wolverine, who had settled himself on an opposite wall similarly to Remy. "Logan, your report?"

"Called in some favors from S.H.I.E.L.D. They don't got much."

"Great," Remy heard Nightcrawler mutter.

Wolverine seemed to grunt in agreeance with the elf.

"Well? What do they have?" Mystique demanded. She seemed to either be ignoring or not notice she was in no place to be making any demands.

"I don't take orders from you, Mystique," Wolverine growled and the X Men all clearly tensed behind him. For once, Remy was grateful for Logan having no filter on his distrust for the Acolytes. Among them, Rogue's eyes were narrowed in on her mother, arms crossed and jaw set.

"No one does, far as I'm concerned," Shock of all shock, Cyke had some balls on him. Remy was mildly impressed Cyke had it in him.

Mystique advanced towards Cyclops, murder in her eyes.

Now this was interesting, Remy thought. Twice in the span of twenty four hours, in front of allies and enemies alike, Cyclops had mouthed off to Mystique. Didn't really fit with the picture of "perfect boy scout" Remy reserved for One-Eye in his head. He glanced quickly at each of the X men, finding none of them were surprised, before landing on Rogue's face again. She looked calm, but her entire body was tense from her crossed arms, to her hip jutted out, to the scowl fixed firmly on her face as she glared at Mystique. He smirked and found a weird blooming feeling in his chest.

Remy frowned himself and looked away quickly. Even if they were on okay terms, he really needed to stop doing that. Anyone could have easily seen him watching Rogue and he didn't have the safety net of "watching her is my job" anymore. In multiple ways from multiple angles Rogue being associated with him could be bad for both of them. Even more than wanting to keep Rogue safely out of his messy past, he got the sick feeling Mystique would probably enjoy tormenting him while manipulating her daughter in one foul swoop.

Metal rattled all over the room. "That's enough, Mystique." Concerningly and just as on the plane, Mystique backed down almost immediately. Remy caught Pete's eye and before both men looked back to their boss. Magneto had to have something on her for her to be so compliant with his orders. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw both Rogue and Nightcrawler sharing a similar look. He wondered exactly how hard it would be to figure it out. He was good, he knew, but Mystique was crafty and had more tricks up her sleeve than Remy would care to admit. If he could find dirt on Mystique, though, at least one of his problems could be patched.

Wolverine looked to his leader before continuing on, as if the interruption had never happened. "Fury sent me some files with designs from some people who got caught working for Trask, but nothing much more than what Gambit stole." Remy didn't care if he looked smug at the idea of Wolverine having to compliment his work. "Trask's got a major backer behind him and outside of a few extra design ideas and guesses from Fury that's all he's got." All smugness quickly drained from Remy, trying to ignore a cold clenching in his chest. He knew he wasn't showing any outward anxiety, but between the two telepaths in the room, Rogue (who always seemed to have a decent read on him _and_ bring out reactions he didn't care to show), and Mystique (who was now staring at him with an intensity that made his stomach twist), he made sure he was very careful to cover any trace of reaction. "He's got ears on the ground and a few favors he can call in for us."

"You believe he will?" Xavier asked.

Wolverine's expression darkened. "After the mess with H.Y.D.R.A.? He better."

Xavier simply nodded and quickly rolled over to the holotable, pressing a few buttons and pulling up the specs Remy had stolen the previous day. He couldn't bring himself to listen to the different features Trask was planning on outfitting in each Sentinel, especially now that he had a pretty good idea of exactly where the upgrades were coming from. He especially stopped focusing when, in the midst of everyone moving closer to the holotable, he saw Mystique immediately head to stand by Rogue.

Like hell was that gonna happen.

Staying light on his feet and drawing as little attention to himself as possible, Remy moved to block the shapeshifter, squeezing his body where Mystique had been aiming for (in between Rogue and Shadowcat) encasing Rogue between himself and Nightcrawler. Momentarily Remy saw Nightcrawler stare at him, not as hostile as Cyclops or Wolverine but close enough, before turning back to the table, perturbed. He kept his eyes focused on the specs, pretending to be incredibly focused on everything Magneto and Xavier were telling their teams.

He rested one hand on the edge of the holotable, leaning sideways into it as his other hand went to rest on his hip inside his duster, elbow resting gently bethind Rogue's back centimeters from touching her. He crossed one ankle over the other, satisfied he was effectively cutting Mystique off from Rogue as much as possible while still maintaining plausible deniability. He wasn't about to advertise his intention to keep his promise and watch out for her, but Rogue had saved him with his father. It was the least he could do to help keep her mother away from her. He would have to be careful though. He was sure Rogue would agree with him that the less reason Mystique had to think he was protecting Rogue instead of just trying to piss off Mystique (or standing in a place inconvenient for Mystique), the better.

His eyes stayed focused on the contents of the holotable, but he was now incredibly aware of how much he was in Rogue's space. Her back was stiff, but she wasn't leaning away from him. He decided to take it as a good sign and stand his post. She was so close he could feel the same warmth from her back he'd felt when he'd tucked her body so tightly against his own yesterday. Were they not in a room full of people (and thus liable to make her panic and shut down on any progress they'd made), he might have tried his luck at squeezing tighter into her space again. She'd let him hold her for so long even though he'd assumed she would push him away immediately after the explosion, and he hadn't been able to figure out why. It made him want to try again.

He'd almost shivered when her lips had met his ear, face mask stopping her soft cheek from brushing against his skin or not. The sheer closeness of her snug between his legs, her breath in his ear, her every curve molded to him, had created such a rush of adrenaline. Not to mention the shock to his system he'd felt when she started reaching for her communicator, hand incredibly close to places he didn't like to think she'd ever been before.

"So we wait then," he vaguely heard Magneto saying.

Xavier was nodding and Remy forced himself to pay attention. "Until Logan hears from Fury and this matter is sorted out, you and your team are welcome to take up residence here, Magnus."

"I think that best."

For once, Remy was glad for Magneto's proclivity to answer for his team without asking for their opinions. Had Magneto asked the team, they would have had to justify to him why they wanted to stay or go. Remy had started out on very thin ice, he felt, trying to keep his desire to stick around and figure out Rogue a private desire. Nothing good would come of him allowing people to know Rogue had drawn his focus, especially if "people" included Mystique.

He heard a scoff from behind him and involuntarily stiffened, elbow bumping gently against Rogue's back as he turned with everyone to look at Mystique. "You'll have to excuse me if I find the whole idea of this ridiculous."

"Your contract does not require you to stay here, Mystique, only to go on missions when called upon," Magneto answered coldly. Beside him, Rogue turned sideways to look towards her mother with everyone else and Remy couldn't help but notice if she were to take one step backwards, her back would almost be flush against his chest. He resisted the urge to push her boundaries and shift himself closer, to shield her from Mystique's eyes as much as possible. Remy didn't generally think of himself as protective of anyone. He'd been looking out for Rogue because he owed her. Because he wanted her to be safe. But that surely wasn't the same as feeling protective of someone. Yet in that moment, he could clearly identify an almost burning in his throat at the want to keep Rogue away from her mother and whatever she was thinking.

He watched Mystique closely as she looked at each of her children, the same look in her eyes that Remy found he really did not like. Mystique shifted and her eye contact with Magneto was just as calculating and apathetic before she turned on her heel and walked out. Quickly he noticed the weather witch follow Mystique out of the room and Remy was grateful someone was making sure Mystique actually made it out of the building.

Before an awkward silence could fully descend upon the group, Xavier was speaking to the group again, giving meal times and telling Magneto's team general amenities they could find around the Institute and listing a few rules he hoped for the Acolytes to follow as well as listing several concerns for his own team with the Sentinels around, but Remy found himself unable to focus on any of it as he saw Rogue's head tilt upwards slightly in his direction. His eyes immediately met hers and something inside his chest gave a jolt when she gave him a very quick, very small smile of gratitude before turning back to her professor.

* * *

Rogue would have thought doing her senior year a second time might have made all the homework _somewhat_ easier. She'd done most of it all before so it _should _have been easier at least. It wasn't like she had different teachers this year. Yet here she was, head aching like she'd been hitting it against a brick wall instead of doing calculus, just as stumped as she'd been the first time. It didn't help to be dodging Kitty, who had been on the drama hunt especially after Gambit had slid between them at the holotable.

It was weird. The second they'd all moved to stand around the holotable and she saw Mystique make a bee line for her and Kurt, something in the back of her mind had wondered if he was going to find a way to run Mystique-interference again. She'd barely been able to think it before she felt his solid form at her side, arm hovering behind her back. She hadn't needed him either time, but when she'd known he might make that play the second time, she hadn't hated it as much or had the gut reaction of "I can take care of myself" she usually had. She had almost appreciated it even.

She sighed and blew her bangs out of her face. Staring at the textbook was apparently not helping her understand calculus any better. Maybe she should just bite the bullet and track down Kitty to get the damn assignment done. It was her last bit of homework for the night and she was going to have to deal with Kitty soon anyway. Kitty was on dinner duty that night, and Rogue had drawn the short straw of being her sous chef. Otherwise known as making sure whatever was served was slightly edible.

She resisted the urge to sigh again and looked down at her worksheet and textbook one more time, trying to find anything she understood. English and history she was good at. Science she was decent in. But math? Math she was even worse at than French, and that was pretty dismal as was.

If she was going to avoid Kitty and basically commit to an F on that assignment, maybe that was an okay reason to take Gambit up on his offer to help with her Fre-

"Y'know for a school, the library's actually pretty small."

Rogue jumped, completely embarrassed as a small squeak came out of her mouth. Shit! How the hell did he just appear out of nowhere like that? He was like a damn ghost with how quiet he was. She turned in the direction of Gambit's voice, frustrated she hadn't heard him enter the room or approach her at all. "Cajun!"

He immediately had the chair next to her turned and was straddling it, arms folded over the back. He rested his cheek innocently (yeah, right) on his arms as he made sure to lock eyes with her, insufferable grin plastered across his face as he managed to smoothly lean even closer towards her in the chair. "Did you jus' squeak, _chére_?"

"What the hell, Gambit?"

"Y' did, didn't ya?" When he really laughed, Rogue couldn't help but notice the corners of his eyes crinkled. It brought out the mischief behind his eyes even more, as well as Rogue's general desire to punch something.

"Seriously, what the hell?" She glared at him, hands on her hips.

"Not sure I woulda pegged y' for the kind of gal who squeaks." Apparently her glare still had no effect on him and, unlike every other person she'd met, it instead seemed to spur him on rather than shut him up.

She flopped back in her chair, giving herself more space away from him as she crossed her arms."Well, what the hell am I supposed to do when you appear like a phantom outta nowhere?"

He sat up slightly, still leaned in towards her but not advancing any further. If he could grin any wider, his face might just split in half. "Y' jumped too. Anyone else know y' scare so easy?"

"You're enjoyin' yourself way too much here, Cajun."

"Don't know what y' talkin' 'bout, _chérie_. 'M simply enjoyin' the fact that you're a jumpy, little squeaky toy when y' scared."

"I wasn't scared, asshole!" She thwacked his arm and tried again to fix him with a glare that (again) had the opposite effect of her intent; he just laughed harder.

"Alright, _chére_," he held up his arms in defense, laughter still laced throughout his tone. "Y' wasn't scared. Seein' ol' Remy jus' gotcha so excited y' jumped for joy."

Rogue grimaced and rolled her eyes. He wasn't _that_ much older than her. She knew he wasn't 100% sure of his age, but his psyche's roundabout guess didn't leave enough of an age gap for her to consider him old, figure of speech or not. "Whatever, Swamp Rat. _Rogue _wasn't scared," she said, sarcastically emphasizing her name in third person as she turned her glare from his face to the worksheet in front of her. "Ain't my fault I couldn't hear ya over the sounds of me not understanding Calculus."

He stood from his chair and leaned over onto the table from behind her. She realized too late she was now basically trapped between his arms as he rested his hands on the table and leaned down, bringing his face level with hers over her shoulder, seemingly for a closer look.

He was close enough to be looking almost directly over her shoulder at her worksheet, but far enough he had left a little space for breathing room, something she was immediately grateful for even if breathing suddenly felt incredibly hard to do. Unfortunately even with the minimal space between their bodies and faces and despite the fact that no part of them was touching this time, she was immediately overstimulated by him, just like yesterday. Still the same waft of spices followed him, but this time she was able to notice a lingering smoke as well as mint when he breathed out. And he was _warm_. Even with space, she could feel the heat from him run through her like lighting. It felt like the heat was landing solely in her cheeks, a sensation she was rapidly losing the fight against. Rogue found herself wondering if this was just how it felt when someone got physically in your space for no reason, or if this panic was just because it was him.

In New Orleans, he'd invaded her space a few times, although mostly to pull her along on their journey. Yesterday he'd been protecting her when he'd been so physically close to her. It had been unavoidable, really. But right now was different. There was no need to convince her he wasn't scared of her powers, no immediate enemy threat, no nothing. Right now he was just casually choosing to be in her space of his own volition and she didn't know what to do with it. She turned her face slightly towards him, relieved when she was not met with his eyes. She wasn't sure really if she could handle looking into the red of his eyes on top of all the other sensations she was experiencing.

She tried to give herself another inch of space between them, finding it nearly impossible, and cleared her throat as she tried to sound as casual as he looked. "Can't find something else to entertain yourself 'round here? Or do you just happen to love math?"

Gambit glanced her way before he pushed back from the desk and sat back down, pulling out his deck of cards and began idly fiddling with one, just as he had the previous night. He was still leaned in towards her, but she finally felt like she could breathe again. "That's not actual math. 'S just nonsense," he said idly as he watched his hands move the card through his fingers quickly.

She snorted in agreement and flipped a page in her book, trying to find something to help. "Well y'ain't technically wrong there, Cajun."

His eyes flickered towards her momentarily before focusing back on his card. There was a set to his jaw that told her well enough he had a thought on something but was choosing not to voice it. Whatever it was, it was gone before she could contemplate what was going on, a feeling she was growing increasingly familiar with the more she was around him.

"Couldn't find somewhere more interestin' to cause trouble?"

He looked up at her from his card, an eyebrow raised as he appraised her reactions. "Already found th' most interestin' thing here."

That response and it's potential insinuations did nothing to keep her on comfortable ground. This needed to stop. He wasn't her enemy right now and she'd decided to let bygones be bygones with him bailing on her. They'd agreed they were on okay terms. There was no reason to still feel this weird around him, even if it had only been about a day since he'd stormed back into her life. Nothing should be causing her to feel so nervous. She had been nervous in New Orleans, but that was easily chalked up to being kidnapped and taken on a whirlwind trip with him. That was more situational than anything else, really. Or so she'd thought until this very moment when just sitting next to the guy was giving her weird feelings of anxiety in her chest and stomach.

But he was just a guy. An _annoying_ guy who was intent on hanging around her for reasons she didn't quite understand...but just a guy. There was no reason to be feeling so amped up. Besides. It wasn't like he actually _meant_ she was really all that interesting anyway. He was a flatterer for sure, but by far she was not the most interesting person, let alone thing, in the X Mansion.

That easy grin was back on his face and for once, she was glad he could seemingly carry on a conversation all by himself. His smile reached his eyes more than yesterday, but she could still see the same hesitations as the previous day. He stretched out just then, his uniform hugging every part of his form as he did so. Once he finished he fixed her with an impish grin full of promise. "Mus' mean it's time t' stir up some trouble then."

Rogue rolled her eyes, unable to stop herself from smiling back at him slightly. "You'll have to let me know how that goes. I got dinner duty in a few and no time for trouble makin' in my schedule."

He stood and held out a hand to her, still grinning as he waited for her to grab it. "Always time for trouble makin', _chére_."

She stood and began gathering up her books, shoving them haphazardly into her bookbag. "Not if I wanna get to the kitchen in time to stop Kitty from doing any actual cooking," she said, allowing a little bit of humor into her voice.

When Gambit didn't respond, she hesitantly paused her motions to look back at him. His hand was dropped to his side and although he wasn't looking at her, she could still see he was thinking very hard about something. It was confusing. One second he had been completely fine, joking around, and the next he was standing there looking almost exactly like he had yesterday when she'd climbed through the fence on her own instead of accepting his hand for help.

Wait.

Rogue winced inwardly as she watched his guarded eyes, focused off on the table. That couldn't be what was responsible for his sudden change in demeanor, right? Clearly the conversation had just hit a lull and she was boring him. Afterall, who would really care or want the untouchable girl to take their hand? Gambit was crazy, but he wasn't that crazy. Still...

"Might be some trouble on the way though?" she offered, trying to sound as casual as possible as she slung her bag over her shoulder and watched his face closely, not turning away even as he met her eyes.

Whatever was going on in his head, she must have done something right because although his smile was not as full of shit as normal, he _did _offer her a smile again as he nodded. For probably the first time ever, he stood quietly without comment (watching her maybe just as closely as she had just been watching him, she felt) for her to finish gathering her schoolwork. She walked to meet him and he remained quiet, although any tension she'd seen in his body posture and face was gone so the quiet was much more comfortable and companionable. She tucked her hair behind her ear, unable to stop a small smile, and snuck a small glance at him as he strolled right alongside her out the library door towards the kitchen.

* * *

Rogue sighed in relief when she and Gambit arrived at the kitchen to find Kitty had not yet arrived. If she could get the basics of something started, there was much less of a chance that Kitty would be able to _completely_ ruin the meal. A ruined meal meant pizza, which Rogue didn't much mind, but it also meant a very frustrated and upset Kitty who could not understand why cooking didn't come as naturally to her as science in general. She blew her bangs from her eyes as she stared blankly into the fridge. She loved cooking, but being on dinner duty was always a lot to handle. It was usually only once a month, but with Kitty in the rotation _someone_ had to be there to help and that usually fell on Kurt or herself.

Rogue continued checking the fridge for what they had on hand, incredibly aware Gambit had taken up residence on a stool, shuffling his cards as he leaned on the countertop, but also unsure what she was supposed to do here. If he stayed did that mean he wanted to cook too? Or sit and talk while she cooked? Or did he not know what to do with himself and she was the least boring option? Or was he wanting to just sit and mutually ignore each other?

"So what we makin', _p'tite_?" Eerie as it was for him to do so, he seemed to know exactly what she'd needed to hear and she was grateful. He had to have picked up on her discomfort….that or he was just better at knowing how friends hang out. Either way, the guidance was appreciated. She closed the fridge and leaned onto her elbows across from him.

"Well. For starters, somethin' simple that Kitty can't mess up when she gets here."

He looked up from his cards and raised an eyebrow at her.

Rogue again tucked her hair out her face, eyes falling to the countertop as she frowned and continued. "She sucks at anythin' cooking."

He snorted. "Why let her on the rotation then?"

Rogue stepped away and began looking through the cupboards, trying to find something to inspire her as she answered him. "Prof's rules. All senior team members have to be on all chore rotations. Sets a good example or whatever."

"But you have t' do it twice?" she heard him ask, voice right behind her. He must have moved off the chair and closer behind her at some point, but she hadn't heard him move at all until his voice popped up so close behind her. She did her best to hide her slight flinch of surprise (not a jump. She didn't _jump. _She also didn't scare easily), although knowing Gambit, he had to have noticed.

Way up high she saw the flour and moved to grab it down, deciding that was much more important to focus on than Gambit's close proximity. Someone had put the flour in the wrong place and she had trouble reaching the container even when she lifted herself onto the tops of her toes and reached as far as she could. "Nah, I just drew the short straw this time."

She actually heard Gambit move closer this time (which she assumed was intentional) but still she was unprepared to feel the warmth of his body flush against her own. Rogue was again stunned as he moved into her personal space with no hesitation and she could not stop herself from noticing how their hips lined up almost perfectly with her still stretched to reach up for the flour. She lowered herself down, but that only served to make her notice how much taller he really was than her, something that made her feel even more encased. He stayed in her space as he reached up easily to grab the flour and hand it to her. Just as she felt like she was about to explode from the proximity, he stepped back and leaned back against the countertop casually. "So what we makin'?"

She began shuffling around the kitchen, gathering supplies as she spoke. It felt good to create some physical distance between them. With the amount of time he'd spent in her personal space the past day, Rogue would think she would be getting used to it, but she wasn't and she shouldn't. It terrified her every time he got too close. He could get hurt if he kept playing this game. She knew he was being anything but careless when he came so close, but sometimes even the best intentions and most careful choices could still end in disaster.

"Was thinkin' of pizza. If somethin' goes wrong with the cookin' it's what we'll eat anyway so maybe it'll soften the blow for her, worst comes to worst."

"Well, don't have much experience with cookin' pizza, but Remy's ready to assist." It was kind of nice, Rogue decided, to have someone to talk to as she continued hunting down everything they would need. It was also kind of nice to see his smirk was gone, replaced with an actual smile. Nothing crazy and nothing like the teasing grin she knew so well, but a nice smile (soft almost) that made his lips look even fuller and brought out the good humor laced throughout his expression.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Well, can _he _turn the oven on?" Just where had that third person thing come from anyway? Gambit had never done it before today that she could remember. When she looked up to ask, she noticed immediately the shadows that had been darkening his eyes looked to be almost gone for the moment. Whatever it was on his mind, it couldn't hurt for her to let him continue to be a weirdo.

Although he seemed in a good mood now, deep down she knew it was a cover. She'd done it enough times herself to understand that the something behind his eyes she couldn't figure out was still there and he really didn't need her to poke at what it was.

"Remy's happy to, chef."

Rogue snorted, but couldn't stop herself from hesitantly smiling back at him. It was probably dumb to be almost enjoying his boyish smile and mood, but she couldn't help it. This _had_ been the part of New Orleans she'd been thinking of when she'd agreed it hadn't all been bad. They'd relaxed into conversation so easily back then and she was cautiously happy with the idea that they not only actually could again, but kind of already were. But that was too quick, really. The Swamp Rat had been back for barely a day.

"Homemade sauce?"

She turned to look at him, so lost in her thoughts she had to stop for a second to figure out what he meant. "I mean, I wasn't plannin' on it, but mostly because mine never turns out right."

He grinned widely as he started grabbing spices from the cabinet she'd opened earlier. "Remy's got you covered, _chére_."

She laughed and raised an eyebrow. For some reason the idea of him cooking wasn't something she'd have ever pictured, but it certainly made sense to her right now. "Oh, really?"

"Really." Surprisingly, he actually did have her covered. Remy could apparently cook. Really well.

As both set about preparing the meal, they lapsed into a comfortable, companionable silence Rogue wasn't sure she'd ever truly experienced with anyone else outside of maybe Logan. Occasionally Gambit would ask her where to find something, still mostly doing that goofy third person thing, but for the most part they moved around each other with ease.

As they continued moving about, she caught him looking at her several times. His expression had shifted again and curiously she tried to figure it out. She could see he was a deep concentration, but didn't understand much else. It was like he was watching and waiting for something, like someone patiently waiting to find the solution to a puzzle.

He was being so quiet though. She knew he was capable of it, but she'd always assumed he wasn't one for quietly working together on something like she was. Rogue tried to not let it show that she was working on finding a solution to her own puzzle.

"Alright, Swamp Rat. Time for a taste test?"

He smiled before looking into his sauce pot to check. Upon smelling his creation, he held up a finger indicating she should wait before throwing a few more herbs and spices in and giving it a good stir.

"Okay, 's ready."

She dipped a serving spoon in and lifted it to her lips to taste, blowing on it carefully. As she waited for the spoonful to cool, she could see in her periphery that his eyes were locked on the spoon. His tongue darted out to wet his lips and, although she could have been imagining it, his posture was suddenly very tense.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with that, but...friends (sort of friends?) pranked each other right? It seemed like something Kurt could do, but had never really been comfortable for her. Still, if there was anyone she could try it on, it was probably the guy who technically owed her a favor. Satisfied the spoon was cool enough, she tasted his creation and grimaced. "I thought you could cook, Cajun!"

Gambit's eyes went wide, a hilariously appalled look on his face. "What'chu talkin' 'bout, _chére_?"

She dipped the spoon in again to hand off, but instead of grabbing the spoon he grabbed her arm, guiding it (and by extension the spoon) towards his own mouth. Although it seemed like such an awkward way to get the spoon to his destination, Rogue completely forgot all about that the second the spoon reached his lips. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room as she watched him blow on the sauce, embarrassingly fascinated by such a simple action.

The second he tasted the sauce he froze and locked eyes with her. Amusement danced through his eyes and that helped her to not feel so nervous as she laughed. He let go of her arm and chuckled along with her, shaking his head until all that remained was a smile and eyes full of warmth as he looked at her. "_Chére, _did you just...purposefully do something goofy?"

She tried to turn away, but even that could not hide her grin. Rogue was very aware her cheeks had some of a blush gathered, but she found she actually didn't mind much when he was smiling like that.

"Y' did!" His smile was even wider and it made her stomach jump a little.

"Don't know what you're talkin' about, Cajun."

He chuckled again and went back to stirring his sauce. Neither of them, it seemed by their silence, was quite comfortable with this side of friendship, at least with each other, and neither of them really knew how to navigate this situation. Snark was normal. Sarcasm as well. Life or death situations? Easy. But joking around was mostly new. It was kind of nice to not feel five steps behind on everything with him. She loved Kitty and Kurt and her friends, but sometimes she felt like Irene's strict upbringing had kept her held back socially and she didn't always know the right thing to say. Usually she stuck to sarcasm and bluntness. It was her strength and she did it well. But with Gambit it was kind of nice to feel on the same level in that way.

She turned to him and let herself smile a little, feeling a little more comfortable with him seeing that. "One of the best pizza sauces I've had, Swamp Rat."

He met her eyes and they both grinned before they both turned back to their cooking. The warmth was still across his every feature but another look had flashed across his eyes, positive but still indistinguishable. Honestly, she was going to have to get his assistance on having a poker face good enough to fool Logan. Even if she could detect emotions from everything he did, she had a feeling it was going to take forever to understand which emotion was which.

They continued to work quietly for several minutes before he spoke up. "Y' good friends with Shadowcat, huh?"

Rogue looked up at him from preparing the vegetables she'd pulled aside before immediately looking back down, the look in his eyes too intense to meet right then. She shrugged and brought the tomatoes over to him for his sauce. Remy spoke again before she could truly answer, his voice so soft she couldn't stop herself from meeting his eyes. "S'good y' have her." He began blending the tomatoes, adding spices here and there, again before she could answer.

When the blender stopped, she still found herself rooted in her spot watching him. The confusion was probably very obvious on her face, but she couldn't help it. That felt like it came out of nowhere.

"Not bein' roommates anymore helped for sure."

"Thought y' were always kinda friends?"

She shrugged again as she began to work on making the pizza dough. "We were, but we definitely got closer after Apocalypse and getting our own rooms."

He set the lid on his sauce pot and moved over next to her, leaned against the countertop. "S'good t' see y' with friends around." His voice was still soft and she found herself unable to keep her focus on the forming dough when he was looking at her like that. He was speaking in normal syntax again and it directed her to understand that this was a genuine sentiment.

She looked up at him, trying to find some words to respond, but was immediately distracted. He licked his lips quickly and she was suddenly incredibly aware of his hand very slowly reaching towards her face. The closer it got, the more nervous she felt (and probably showed).

"R-Gambit?" She corrected herself quickly, but all this third person talk from him had almost coaxed his name out of her mouth, something she wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable with yet. Swamp Rat, yes. Cajun, for sure. Gambit, definitely. But saying his actual name? It felt like admitting she was happy he was there and hanging out with her, something that she didn't feel right about when he'd only been back for such a short time.

There was a triumphant smile on his face as he continued moving closer, finally reaching his destination and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yeah?"

Oh, shit, he thought she was trying to ask him something, not warn him back from touching her.

"You sound like a total tool when you talk in third person, you know that right?" Remy burst out laughing at that and she couldn't help but let her own version of a triumphant smile grace her lips. It was kind of nice to hear him laugh instead of chuckle. He had a nice laugh, it had all the warmth and honey of his voice with happiness mixed in. Happiness looked good on him.

His smile was just as bright as before, but with an air of slyness as he turned and began helping her with the dough. "Think 'm gettin' my desired result, though."

She raised an eyebrow at him carefully. "And that would be?"

"F' me t' know and y' to wonder 'bout." He couldn't have sounded more childish if he'd stuck his tongue out at her as he said it and still she couldn't stop a laugh from escaping her in response.

She shook her head and began rolling out the dough, deciding if she rolled her eyes any more that night she might get a headache. "Whatever, Swamp Rat."

Reference pic (not their exact clothes or anything, but the position and idea for sure):

starrrtt27/art/Southern-Cooking-COLORED-361755722


	8. Chapter 8

Hello! Thanks for your patience, guys. Life has gotten a little more normal what with adjusting to emergency distance teaching and the break up. Thanks for the kind thoughts and reviews. It was really appreciated even if I didn't have a chance (or the brain power) to answer back. If I did miss a response in this time, one is coming because I genuinely love answering back and appreciate the effort of putting in a comment so much (I'm usually terrified to do it haha)

I've taken to writing longer chapters it seems, but updating a little slower. I hope this works okay for you guys :D

Oh two things I wanna clarify before we dive in:

I love 90's Remy and his third person talking fits him really well, but yeah I think Evo!Rogue would call Evo!Remy a tool if he did it since it's not something he canonically does in this universe. I'm having him do it here and there, but it's usually for a very specific reason (or reasons).

Also, I love Scott. I'm giving him such a hard time and I promise you that won't be forever. He's a really complex character to me and I wanted to break that down just as I'm breaking down Remy. Both guys have issues with themselves that exacerbate their issues with each other, I think, before any respect can be there. Also it's kind of fun (in a mean way) to stick Rogue in the middle and have her try to figure out these two important people in her life without it being a love triangle. Same thing with any other character I start writing in a way that might make you frustrated with them, unless it's Alex Summers I'm doing it to drive the plot/character development (or try to. I'm still learning haha).

Thanks per usual to thehazeofdusk, who always happens to know what words I'm trying to get to and, really, is the reason I got this chapter (and the next one) written faster than I'd thought I would.

**Chapter 8**

By the time school ended the next day, Rogue still wasn't sure which emotional track to take. Partially (probably stupidly) she was kind of...excited? She still wasn't entirely sure what a good friendship entailed (after all, how could someone get close to a person emotionally when they could kill you with a mere touch?), let alone a good friendship with Gambit of all people, but she had enjoyed cooking with him the night before. Their dinner had turned out amazingly in the end. Kitty had apparently forgotten she was on cooking duty (although Rogue had been sure Kitty had reminded her before heading out of the meeting the night beforehand) so she never showed up.

It had felt kind of nice to have someone to laugh with instead of staying sequestered off on her own. She liked sitting off to the side and not having the attention on her well enough, but it was a nice change, in a weird way, to have him at the Institute temporarily.

On the flipside, she was already exhausted at the idea of running a Danger Room session. At this point the senior team had missed both sessions on Monday and now one this morning as well. There was no need to guess if Scott was anxious to get them back into training. Kurt had tried asking Jean if they were going to have to do Capture the Flag again, but she hadn't known and wouldn't break her morality rules and read his mind to find out, the traitor.

Rogue glanced over to her side quickly. If Jean had heard that thought, she wasn't giving any indicator. Rogue sighed and pushed off the elevator wall as motion stopped and the doors opened with a soft 'ding'. She hastily brushed her hair off her face and marched towards the Danger Room doors, Kitty and Jean flanking her as she rolled her shoulders in preparation.

"Do you really think it'll be Capture the Flag again? Like, he's gotta be done with that by now, right?" Kitty was saying.

Rogue scoffed. "Knowing Scott, yeah. I think we're gonna be doing the same damn thing."

"Well...maybe not the exact same thing," Jean answered, voice very pointed. Rogue almost got the feeling Jean was smiling as she gestured towards the group of Acolytes congregated around Scott and Kurt, although she couldn't imagine what exactly was so entertaining for Jean.

Whether it was by the frustrated furrow of Scott's brow, the smirk on Gambit's lips, the panicked look on Kurt's face moving between the Acolytes and Scott, or just the general tension in the air, Rogue immediately knew that whatever the next hour held, she did not care to take part in it. She looked nervously at Kitty but instead of a similarly worried expression, all Rogue saw was deep seeded excitement. Honestly out of all the people in that hallway, the only one who seemed to be having a sane response (outside of herself) was Colossus. The larger man's lips were tight and he seemed to be assessing everyone around him, arms crossed tightly over his chest. At least _someone_ else was sane here.

"There's no way Wolverine agreed to this," Scott's tone was incredibly harsh.

"Think again, mate." Rogue was surprised when it was Pyro out of the three Acolytes who spoke, albeit with a mostly terrible impression of Magneto. "Ol' Bucket Head formally requested his team have use of the training facilities whilst we have our temporary ally-ship. Your Professor was only too happy to oblige his old friend."

Scott huffed. "That doesn't mean at the _same time_ as us though. The Professor knows our training schedule. Why would he- ," If Scott's face could get any redder, Rogue wondered if it might also explode. She wanted to help the poor guy, really. He was her friend after all. However, she thought as she exchanged glances with Kitty and Jean, perhaps all those killer, repetitive, basically pointless danger room sessions justified not stepping in _just _yet.

"Well see, that's exactly why y' professor sent us down right now, Slim," Gambit's drawl was even thicker than normal as he stood straight from the wall and interrupted Scott's rant, maintaining direct eye contact with the X Man the entire time. Gambit's expression was void of everything but his signature smirk and Rogue was immediately reminded of how different the Gambit she regularly interacted with was from who she saw before her. She was no expert on Remy LeBeau, but she did have a better (although still very small) window into his thoughts and mannerisms than others (mostly from the time his psyche had spent in her head), but his poker face was locked so solidly into place that she couldn't make out even a glimmer of the guy she'd spent several hours cooking with the night beforehand. When it had been the two of them on the battlefield with the Sentinels, she had been able to see some flashes of emotion in his eyes, even if she couldn't distinguish what was inside his head. Now she could see only what he wanted the world to know, just the same as everyone else.

It wasn't just his face, it was how he held himself as well. Hanging out and in New Orleans, he'd been graceful and relaxed, yes, but right now his posture screamed danger from every single angle. Danger and Gambit were almost synonymous, so she wasn't surprised by _that_, but she did suddenly feel incredibly aware how close he could be to unleashing some of his wild pent up energy into the world. It was always there bubbling under the surface (even when he was goofing back and forth with her), but in tense situations like this it felt like it wouldn't take very much for him to pop the cork and unleash some of that chaos at any second with little regard outside of completing his goal, no matter the destruction. This was not her Gambit. This was another creature entirely.

Gambit's casual tone made her both relax and tense almost at the same time as he continued talking to Scott, stepping closer and accentuating the slight high advantage the Acolyte had. "After all, if we gonna work t'gether f' t' time bein', only makes sense we train t'gether once'o twice."

Before Scott's face could get any redder, Jean cut in. "I just asked. The Professor said to begin your training session and just add in three slots, Scott."

Scott turned back to his girlfriend and seemed to be taking a deep breath, their eyes trained on one another long enough it was clear they were still talking telepathically. The conversation didn't last long enough to create too awkward of a silence and quickly Scott turned back around, his face suddenly calmer. "Fine. Game's Capture the Flag," Scott ignored a groan from Kurt and Kitty. "Your team's job is to get the flag before the timer runs out.

"This is it? Get the flag?" Colossus was looking back and forth between Scott, Gambit, and Kitty, looking for a correction. It didn't surprise Rogue that this type of training might be unheard of for the Russian.

"First one to the flag's the winner, then? Right-o. Make way, folks. I'm about to make mincemeat of this course," Pyro cracked his knuckles and readied his stance, apparently not taking in the fact that they hadn't even entered the Danger Room yet.

Scott's voice had taken on an authoritative tone. "Not so fast, Pyro. Your _team_ has to get the flag_._"

"Alright, then. I call team captain! Who wants ta be on my team? Red? Skunk? Big Guy?"

Cyclops sighed. "The whole group is your team."

Pyro looked confused. "It's gonna take eight of us to get a damn flag? Where is it, Antarctica?"

"Seven. I'm running the sim," the authority in Scott's voice seemed to find its footing, his confidence back on solid ground. Rogue was kind of proud of him. He might not have control over all the variables like a normal Danger Room, but he seemed to be taking the impromptu learning experience somewhat in stride.

"My point remains, mate. It's gonna take seven of us?"

Scott smirked. The confidence he had in the simulation he built didn't give Rogue any confidence that seven would succeed where four hadn't.

"So what...we all...just run for it and race to get there first?" Pyro was saying.

"We would be so lucky. We've done this sim too many times and we just only _almost _got to the flag on Sunday," was Kurt's answer. She couldn't blame his defeated tone. It was a stupid simulation, especially when Scott refused to tell them what kind of lesson he wanted them to learn. At this rate, Rogue was starting to feel like Scott just panicked and made the simulation impossible to defeat while he figured this leadership shit out. She wouldn't drag Scott for it in front of another team, but Scott already knew how she felt about the sim being pointless. There was no reason to run into a brick wall over and over and over to learn a lesson...let alone what the lesson was in the first place. Scott needed a different tactic.

She glanced quickly over at Gambit, who had become curiously quiet during the exchange, and found he was already looking at her. She raised an eyebrow at this and saw his lips turn up slightly at her before looking away. His expression was just as tight and locked down as it had been the whole conversation, but there was a small quirk of his lips which signaled they were still good (and made her realize how much had actually changed with them since before New Orleans). The only other signal to what he could be thinking was the miniscule tightening of his jaw as he looked back at Scott.

"Too many times?" Rogue wasn't sure if Colossus was clarifying because he didn't understand or because he was trying to take in Scott's tenacity.

"Try like twice a day for like five or six days," Kitty answered, rolling her eyes. "Same thing every time until we solve Scott's puzzle or lesson or whatever."

Cyclops shrugged, although he looked pleased at the idea of his sessions being challenging. Rogue wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject with him that his sessions were almost impossible to the point of unwinnable without being too blunt. "It's a tricky lesson," was his simple answer.

"Sounds like y' lesson just sucks," Gambit spat. Rogue found herself not really caring as she stared at him openly. His face showed none of the aggression of his tone, but it was there all the same. It wasn't unheard of for him to sass Scott (hello, team Pow-R8), but he'd been so quiet thus far Rogue had assumed he might stay that way.

To give him credit, Scott did his best to ignore Gambit's remark. "Work as a team. Locate the flag and retrieve it. Since there's seven of you, I'm going to knock the timer down to thirty minutes."

Kurt groaned as Scott walked towards the Control Room door. "Go in and get ready. Sim'll be up in five."

The door closed right on Scott's heel and Rogue glanced nervously at Kitty. Neither was quite sure what to do. It wasn't like they'd never worked with an enemy team before, but working with the Brotherhood to take on the Juggernaut was pretty different than training with the Acolytes.

They all filed in as Jean pressed the button and opened the Danger Room door. Rogue was certain she felt nervous energy from Colossus at least, but Gambit was as unreadable as Pyro was excited.

She watched as the Acolytes all checked out their surroundings in various ways. Colossus was openly in awe, the giant room impressing him especially as Scott started booting up the various programs and the room came to life. Pyro, in a move that Rogue felt by now she should have expected from him, was overly curious, roaming around and moving towards each new thing Scott popped up. Remy-Gambit was the only one standing still.

His eyes were suddenly observant, carefully watching every new thing and taking in his surroundings. He looked casual and calm, but the vastness of the Danger Room had broken his poker face and a sliver of fascination showed in his expression. His eyes moved quickly from different faces to different parts of the simulation being set up, taking in the whole situation. She tried to turn away from him quickly-no one needed to know she was curious as to what he was thinking (especially him). It wasn't that they'd discussed how to act when on "business time" and decided to pretend they didn't know each other, but she certainly felt that was the correct path and based on his lack of invading her personal boundaries, he did too.

She chose to look around as well, taking in any changes Scott had made to the course. They were no longer in a crate yard, but the room was still leading to a maze from what she could tell. He'd picked what resembled a house you'd see in a horror movie this time, Rogue thought. The walls were aged, wallpaper peeling and the drywall behind cracked. There was a clear old, musty smell as well. The room they were in had nothing to see except four doors, each closed.

"We must get through the house?" She was pulled out of her observations by Colossus looking up towards the Control Room to ask Scott.

When Scott didn't answer, Kitty did. "Don't get your hopes up. It's never that simple. And we've never done this layout before either. The flag could be anywhere in this place."

"Yeah, and Scott likes mazes and puzzles so chances are it could take the whole session just to figure out where the flag is, let alone get to it," Rogue felt the resigned frustration in her brother's voice. Kurt was right. And they never should have told Scott about escape rooms (by the time they'd figured out what a colossal mistake that was, it had been too late. He was unstoppable).

"Okay, so we pair off and go for it then," Pyro was way more hopeful and optimistic than he had any right to be.

"Let's sync our watches and then yeah. We should pair defensive with offensive powers," Jean said, distracted by trying to pull out her communicator.

"What no fancy universal timer here?" Pyro asked.

Rogue looked up towards Scott and smirked at Pyro's question, crossing her arms. She'd asked the same many times.

"_No,_" she heard Scott saying over the loudspeaker. "_That removes a sense of reality from the simulation."_

Rogue rolled her eyes and pulled out her own communicator to set a timer. "Thirty minutes, Scott?"

"_Affirmative. Partner up and we'll begin."_

"Dibbs on Pete!" Colossus looked surprised to have been picked by anyone and it was beyond sweet to see such a large man blushing and trying to make himself as small as possible as Kitty bounded to his side. "Ready, big guy?" He nodded and his smile was just as sweet as his demeanor. How the hell did such a nice guy end up working for Magneto? Rogue had always known he didn't act as into the evil parts of the plans as the rest of the team, but seeing him act so shy was something else entirely. Pyro, she could guess why he was there. Gambit, she had ideas about why he was there. But Colossus stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Not fair!" Pyro yelled. "Petey, ya can't just abandon me like this! What am I supposed to do. Work with _Gambit_? You know what happened to my eyebrows last time we tried that."

Rogue turned towards Remy, a mischievous look on his face as he shrugged and ignored that Pyro's question had been directed to Colossus.. "No such luck, John. Y' heard the lady-we both got offensive powers." Immediately, Rogue heard the ulterior motive in his voice and was so not surprised when he moved towards her. "Looks like y' gonna have t' be in a threesome with Red and the teleporter over there."

"_No fair!_" Pyro yelled again just as Scott's voice crackled over the loud speaker; "_Absolutely not._"

Rogue looked towards the Australian, trying to figure out if he was pissed to get last choice, or if he was just pissed about who he'd ended up with. It wasn't like working with _her_ would have been that fun for the guy.

"'Absolutely not', what, Scott?" Rogue asked, hands on her hips as she glared upwards.

There was a small amount of hesitation before Scott spoke. "You and Gambit have worked together before. You should work with different people."

Rogue rolled her eyes, but it was Kitty who answered back. "Yeah, exactly Scott. We're picking advantageous pairings. They've worked together before and they're a good team-we're being smart by putting the two of them together again. Are you gonna try to tell Pete and I we can't work together again? How about Kurt and Jean?"

"_This is a training simulation. Everyone should work with different people as much as possible."_

"Oh, whatever, it's not like anything is gonna actually help us beat your stupid sim anyway, so why not just let us pick our own teams? Besides if it's new you want, you have three people in a senior level sim who have never been in the Danger Room before," Kitty retorted, hands on her hips and a slight pout to her lips.

Rogue glanced up nervously at Gambit, who was glaring daggers in Scott's direction as he spoke to Kitty. "Don't worry, _p'tite_, he's jus' unhappy someone else had a better idea than him."

"_Rogue, pick a different partner."_

Immediately Rogue felt every pair of eyes turn to her, but only the red on black ones right next to her made her face feel like it was burning. She again felt just as stuck and frustrated as she had working with both Scott and Gambit the other day. Whatever pissing match was going on between them, she didn't like being basically caught in the stream of pee every time.

"_I'm the leader and I'm telling you to pick someone else, Rogue."_

Her face flushed in anger this time and she frowned up in Scott's direction. It seemed between this session and the last he was intent on torturing her specifically. "You ain't the field leader during sims, Scott. Jean is and I don't hear her objectin'. Now can we just get this over with already?" What the fuck was his problem? Scott had been very controlling in his journey to learn how to be in charge, but something about the past few days had set him off to a whole different level and it was really starting to push Rogue past "angry" and into "absolutely done".

There was silence from above before finally Scott spoke again. "_Fine. Session begins in 3, 2...1."_

Immediately the lights went out as the sim began.

* * *

Rogue stumbled and cursed. Of course they'd picked the stupid door that led to the stupid basement. And of course the rock Gambit had picked up to light the way with his powers didn't reach as far as she needed, especially with him a few steps ahead of her. Oh, yeah and of course they were still walking down a giant fucking staircase they couldn't see the bottom of as she tripped. She grabbed for the railing, trying to be subtle, but he was too quick. The rock dropped and exploded as she felt his hands under her elbows, supporting her as she in turn steadied herself on his forearms.

She looked up just as the explosion lit up his face and for a moment, the eerily quiet demeanor and tone he'd had was gone and in its place was a small flash of concern in his eyes. Just as quickly as the expression flashed across his face, they were plunged into the darkness.

"Fuck," she sighed, already letting go of his arms, trying to not notice how small her hands felt when she was grabbing onto his arms like that. But he didn't let go in return.

She heard a small creak of the steps and felt him shift more in front of her, still holding her elbows. Had she not been able to hear him move, she certainly would have been able to tell when she felt his breath inches in front of her face, minty and cool. "I'm fine." She tried to pull her arms from his grip, but still he didn't let go. As her eyes adjusted, she swore she could see his eyes in the darkness, mostly level with her own.

"Gambit…" she said warningly, not even sure which warning she was trying to voice.

"Thought we talked 'bout this. Not Gambit."

"Right now you are though."

He didn't respond and she knew she'd made a solid point, despite feeling like her voice was stuck in her throat from the warmth of his forearms still resting under her own.

This was a new norm for them to navigate, keeping their friendship separate from work time. "Y' really tellin me y' done this sim over half a dozen damn times and y' ain't just told Ol' One Eye to stuff it?"

He was still far too close. She again tried to pull her arms away from his grip, but his large hands tightened briefly around her elbows, keeping them locked together. She could stand on her own, damn it. It was just a stumble.

She looked away from him; from his accusation and from the completely uncomfortable feeling that she _could_ see his eyes and how that might mean he could see her much better than she could see him at the moment. When she didn't answer, he continued on.

"M' surprised y' even tried t' tell him no jus' now."

Mouth dry, she turned her face back to the direction of his, "What?"

His hands finally let go of her elbows, slowly, and she was surprised when she felt the loss of his warmth just as strongly as his evident disappointment.

"Jus' sayin. Y' always been the good little soldier for Summers. Could count on one hand the number of times I heard y' tell him 'no'."

Rogue was taken aback. "You clearly didn't watch me as close as you thought then, _Gambit_."

She both felt and heard a snort of annoyance from him. "Whatever y' say, chère." Ouch. The way he spat out 'chère' was a perfect mimic of her emphasis on his code name and she found she was not a fan.

She heard his voice turning away from her as he'd spoken and she also heard him fumbling around inside his coat. Rogue winced as a card lit up, eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden light, and although his tone had gone completely neutral on his last statement, she could see the annoyance on his face from the lit up card, grasped between two fingers.

"Gambit, what the fuck is your problem?"

He didn't answer and continued to walk down the steps. She huffed in frustration and clenched her fists, moving quickly to catch up so she wouldn't lose the light.

Seriously, what _was _his problem? First Scott, now Gambit. He'd never acted this way before when they were enemies-like he personally was pissed off. He suddenly stopped moving and she looked down to realize they'd reached the bottom of wherever they were going, concrete beneath his feet.

He had set himself on a mission, apparently, as he got down looking around on the floor. She didn't have to wonder long when he threw the card off to the side with a soft popping sound as it exploded. She could see him shake his hand after the card left it, like someone who had touched a stove for a second too long.

As another rock lit up, she quirked an eyebrow at him, curious. "What, the card not enough?"

He looked back at her, his expression carefully blank again. His voice lacked any warmth as he answered, an almost robotic monotonous tone taking over. "The rock's bigger-can hold the charge longer without goin' boom." His voice softened but when he looked at the rock and spoke again, the same blank face and voice were still in place. "Haven't figured out how t' hold the charge on cards f' very long yet wit'out Remy's hand gettin' a lil' crispy." The end was an attempt at a joke, she knew, still it unnerved her to see the shadow of a very quick and manufactured smile at his own words.

Although she probably should have, Rogue hadn't really considered the idea of Remy struggling with his powers like she did or even having to learn to control parts of it. Maybe it was because he always seemed in such good control or maybe it was because he was a few years older than her. Or maybe it was because he always seemed to be able to mask any struggles he was having. But come to think of it, she hadn't ever seen him use his powers this way. She hadn't picked up on any hint of it when his psyche was in her head either. Holding the charge on objects and delaying the explosion was a new trick he'd returned to Bayville with.

She stepped closer to him, looking upwards at his face, still turned toward her over his back and shoulder as he looked down at the rock, a small pensive look on his face. "How'd you figure that out?"

His eyes flickered to her face and then his face snapped forward, holding out the rock to try to figure out their surroundings. "Y' know how powers are. Sometimes things jus' show up."

She frowned, but chose not to continue that subject. Instead she copied his movements and began looking around the room.

"Surprised he hasn't sent a battle sim after us yet," she said softly, hoping Cyclops was focused on a different group at that time.

Gambit looked at her, holding his gaze on her face a second longer than before. "The maze an' puzzle ain't enough?"

"Apparently not, but it's how he wants to run the sims I guess," She shrugged and rolled her eyes and walked as far as she could see in the opposite direction, arms crossed over her chest. There was another opening to walk through, but no door. It was an expanse of darkness through the opening and it made her skin crawl thinking about walking through there with not much light to look for attackers.

"Well if Cyclops wants t' make everyone's life harder here, why the hell not." Although she was slightly happy to hear some expression in his voice, she wasn't sure if she liked hearing his barely veiled annoyance Any better. He walked past her towards the opening she'd been looking at, holding the light out as far as possible to get a look at what might be inside the opening.

She huffed in annoyance and stormed over to him, grabbing the shoulder of the arm not holding the potentially explosive rock and yanking him around to face her.

"Rogue, what the hell?"

"I'm serious, Gambit. What the fuck is your problem? I know you're at work or whatever right now and I'm not expectin' you to act otherwise, but you've never been…" she trailed off, noticing the tightening of his jaw and his refusal to meet her eyes.

"Never what," he demanded, eyes almost defiant as he finally glanced at her quickly before turning away from her. "Never pointed out th' cold hard truth that y'd do basically whatever y' fearless leader asks? Even if it's a stupid decision?" She quickly dropped her hand from his shoulder, not wanting to be touching him or acting remotely familiar when he took on that tone of voice. She clenched her fist at her side as he continued on. "What y' gonna do, Rogue, when one day he asks you to put y'self in a position y' ain't gonna come back out of so easily?" She felt like she was gaping at him like a fish, unable to reply. Her face was buzzing with all the frustration she was hit with on each word he said. It was like a slap to the face and gut and she held both hands tightly at her side, trying to not start an actual fight.

He tossed the rock through the door opening and it exploded, a flash of light almost letting her make out shapes through the darkness. Large shapes. Not moving shapes, but large shapes all the same. She had no time to point this out to Gambit though, because as soon as the rock left his hand he was stalking towards her, backing her into what felt like a small bookcase against the wall. She braced her hands on it, looking for leverage and unsure how the hell they'd gone from cooking together last night to suddenly now...this. Whatever this aggression was.

His body was so close she could almost feel it against her own, like the phantom brush of a feather as their chests just barely touched. She looked upwards and found the red of his irises, keeping stubbornness planted on her face. This couldn't be what he wanted this to be like, right? He couldn't be expecting them to be fine outside of business hours but fight and poke and frustrate one another during, right? He couldn't be -

She felt one hand land beside her own on the bookcase and she froze as she felt the fingers of his other hand gently pushing her bangs away from her face. Once he finished, his hand didn't drop, it stayed in her hair, resting there, fingers weaved through the strands carefully to avoid his bare fingers touching her scalp. It was such a sudden change in his demeanor, she felt a different punch in her gut this time, stomach twisting and turning as she struggled to breathe quietly and not let on her confusion at his sudden attitude change.

When he spoke again, there was an immediate difference in his tone as well: it was the Remy from last night she heard, even if his voice was still packed full of frustration despite his volume lowering. It made his voice sound deeper and it rumbled in his chest against her own. "What y' gonna do when one time y' follow his orders blindly and get y'self in serious trouble? Think he gonna thank y', chère? Or just keep askin' for more till y' got nothin' left t' give?"

Rogue wasn't sure how to answer that. She didn't know how to explain that Scott wouldn't do that in a way Remy would believe. Because he wouldn't. Scott was her friend, and he was trying to be a good leader, he just hadn't figured it out yet. She was going to give him hell for it, yeah, but she knew he wouldn't go that far to put her at risk without care. She hated when her brain dropped the memory of the time he'd asked her to save Jean from her powers going haywire. She'd volunteered in the end, but she'd done it because he'd asked. Well. Because the team had asked. But mostly because he had. Putting herself in danger had been her own choice and the team wouldn't have asked it of her if they wouldn't do the same for her. She was sure of it.

She grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand out of her hair in response, still trying to find the words to use when she was having trouble breathing from how close he was to her. The energy crackling around him made her feel almost trapped by him this time (although not in danger), as opposed to only the discomfort of a body close to her own like in the crate yard. She felt everything was charged up this time like one of his cards, from the air to the tension in her body.

He immediately grabbed her hand mid-push and laced their fingers together, bringing both their hands down to rest by their sides. She tried to pull her hand away, but just like on the stairs he held firm. His eyes drew closer to her as he bent down to even their height difference, his breath now directly on her cheek, warming more than her face. She pushed and pulled away again, trying to move her body away from his, needing to breathe, but he simply sighed and grabbed her free hand as well and pinned it down on the bookcase.

"Let. Me. Go," she allowed as much ice as possible to bleed into her tone.

"Ain't happenin', chère," he suddenly sounded very tired.

She tried to squirm her legs to knee him enough to get him to let her go, but with her body and hands pinned and their chests so close, she was having trouble maneuvering herself in a way that wouldn't give him forewarning to her plan.

"Wasn't fair of me to say."

She didn't respond and instead glared ahead, probably straight at his shoulder, knowing he probably couldn't see her but hoping the general anger would fill the air and maybe replace some of whatever it was that was keeping her from feeling like she could breathe normally.

"Chèrie, don't do this."

She blinked, incredulous. "Do _what_, _Gambit_?" Although she hadn't liked being on the receiving end of her name being spat out, in her anger she wasn't able to stop from doing it again.

She felt his head lean down as he sighed again, almost as if his forehead were about to rest on her shoulder, and he pulled their hands with laced fingers between their chests.

"This. Get pissed off and…I didn't...I'm jus' tryin' t'..." he stammered, something she'd never heard before, and trailed off at the end of his sentence, never really attempting to finish it, just pick a different angle. He exhaled loudly, apparently having found the words he'd wanted. "Now ain't the time."

She let out a frustrated noise and tried to pull her hand out from under his. "Are you kidding me? _You _started this and you're wantin' _me _to let it go?" Also, although she didn't say so, something about this felt distinctly like it was very far from a work squabble.

She imagined she could feel him wince as his head did land on her shoulder. She froze, feeling electricity run from her shoulder down her torso. Between his hands radiating heat up her arms and the rest of her body getting electric shocks from the feel of having him so close, she wondered if she was ever going to breathe normally again. She also wondered if he could feel her heartbeat thrumming through every inch of her, especially since every bit was pressed against him in some way or form.

"I know I started this. An' I shouldn't have." She could hear he was carefully choosing his words and he sighed again before continuing. "It's jus' so...frustratin'...to watch sometimes.'

"You don't have to watch," her voice sounded stilted to her own ears.

His hand tightened around her own slightly and once again she tried to not notice how small her hand felt against his own, especially with their fingers lacing them so close together. He snorted. "Hard not to."

"Try harder."

This time his snort was almost a laugh.

"I'm serious. That's an X Men thing anyway-not really your place to be judgin' how I follow my team leader's directions, especially when we're in the middle of a sim. Like you said. Not the time for this," his head shot up from her shoulder and she tried to speak levelly as she looked up into his eyes, which were now directly over her, so close she was worried their noses were about to touch. She finished, feeling the need to defend as much as the need to clarify. "I shouldn't be puttin' my nose in Acolyte business either."

She held her breath in, incredibly self conscious of how fast her heart and breath were fighting to go, until she felt his thumb on their interlaced hands lightly stroke her hand and figured that as weird as the whole blow up had been, this might be as close to a resolution as they would get today (maybe ever, and maybe that was okay).

"We can talk more about this after," she added softly, already feeling an insane need to separate their friendship from business time.

She could tell he closed his eyes momentarily as the red of his eyes briefly disappeared. He stepped back from her, giving her the space she'd so desperately been needing...but weirdly now the space left her feeling cold and empty without the buzz his body had been creating by being so close to her own. He'd let go of their entwined hands, but as she stepped away from the bookcase, finally feeling in control of her own space again, she felt the thumb of his other hand brushing her own as he continued to hold on to it.

It was a weird sensation, but, hey, everything with Remy had always had that extra punch of "what the hell?", especially the past few days and especially with him deciding to invade her personal space so constantly. It seemed to be a mostly absent motion for him, she thought to herself as she heard him use his other hand to begin rummaging around in his coat.

With the first flash, the card lit up between his fingers. With the second flash, Rogue swore, eyes wide as she saw what Scott had just thrown at them.

She had to have jinxed them by saying Cyclops hadn't sent a battle sim their way yet because, she realized as both she and Remy dodged the explosion that had just been flung their way, now they had not only one sim coming for them (and judging by the snarls coming from the giant hulking mass in front of them, she was certain she knew who it was), but two:

Sabretooth.

And Gambit himself.

* * *

"Well, this is gonna real get confusin' real fast."

"Scott, are you _kidding _me with this_?_?"

"_Ready t' fight, mon ami_?" At least the terrible french lilt in the simulator's voice at least made it easier to tell which Gambit was talking.

Immediately, Rogue ducked and rolled, apparently just in time she realized upon hearing an explosion from the wall right behind where her head had been.

She quickly glanced over to Remy, who was sizing up both the virtual Sabretooth and himself as he slowly backed up in her direction, cards already fanned out in his hands. She stood quickly and moved to his side, fists out and ready to go and unleash all the pent up tension she was feeling: from how close she and Gambit had just been to the anger at Scott for doing this. He just _had _to try to put the Acolytes in their place, didn't he? Quickly, Remy looked at her and she tried to convey she would explain later with the quick exchange they had. However, while tension was written across his whole face, curiously, there was no accusation or anger as she'd been expecting. Concern was also absent, as well as his signature smirk.

He was just...blank.

"How accurate are these things? Jus' the powers?" As he spoke, Sabretooth launched himself at Gambit, immediately knocking him back and into the bookcase they'd just been standing by. She didn't have time to check on if he was handling fighting his old teammate well (hopefully they'd sparred before) because apparently tackling was the battle move of choice today. Quickly, she found herself sailing through the air, landing on her back with the simulation of Gambit kneeling overtop of her, sitting himself right on her hips. "_Ma belle chere, 'bout time I got your body under mine." _(She heard a scoff from across the room and a mutter that sounded suspiciously like "'m not _that _bad").

Rogue kneed upwards into his spine and rolled to her side as soon as the weight of the sim had left her. Cards rained sideways in her direction and she dodged and rolled again, heart racing in so many different ways. This was not the kind of thing to convince Gambit that Scott wasn't that shitty of a leader. She worked to avoid the cards flying towards her to find a moment to finally answer across the room, "Accurate to the last battle Scott saw you in usually."

She heard a giant grunt from his direction and a sickening crack of a head against the wall, Sabretooth snarling the whole time. She couldn't turn to look and make sure it wasn't Gambit who got taken out though. Simulation Gambit was advancing, cards fanned out similarly to his real counterpart, glowing a deep gold. "_Ready t' dance, ma belle?"_

"Rather take you out and get this over with," Rogue grunted, landing a solid punch in his gut.

"_Oh, ma belle, if y' wanted a date t' go wit' the dancin', all y gotta do is say so. I'll add y' t' m' t'-do list immediately."_

She flushed, realizing the innuendo she'd opened herself up to and heard herself let out a very Logan-like-grown as she landed another punch, this time to the simulation's jaw. He stumbled back against the wall, stunned and holding his jaw. From behind her, she heard the sounds of Gambit struggling with Sabretooth. She took advantage of her sparring partner being temporarily out of commission to sneak a peek and was dismayed at what she found.

It _had_ been Gambit who hit the wall, as evidenced by the blood on his forehead, but that wasn't the most alarming thing she was seeing. His face was very close to a snarl as he swung his staff at Sabretooth with wild abandon, whacking the larger man over and over as he fought him off. Gone was his smirk, his usual banter, and the look in his eyes that said he always had a plan. He was in an almost frenzied state, unlike any way she'd ever seen him fight, unleashing everything he had onto Sabretooth and almost growling back to Sabretooth more and more each time he landed a hit with his staff or cards.

"_Oh, ma __chèrie__..."_ She turned back to her own opponent, who was recovering from her sucker punch to the jaw. She frowned. Gambit had never spoken to her with that tone of voice; like a creepy guy in an alley. Sure he'd teased, been condescending in the beginning, and honeyed his tone several times to get what he wanted...but he'd never sounded gross like this before. She found she hated the way the simulation called her 'chèrie' even over the way the real man had spit the nickname out as they'd descended the staircase.

She rolled her eyes and readied herself to duck and roll again. Damn it, Scott really set her up to have to use her powers here, didn't he? She knew it was just a simulation-no psyche would enter her head if she dropped this douchey version of Remy, but if she relied on using her powers in here she would start doing that in the real world too. She sighed, preparing to remove her glove. Apparently Scott was going to win this round.

All thought of avoiding using her powers went away, though, when the simulation of Gambit sent a card straight for her gut, knocking her backwards into a wall as the explosion happened. Shit, that hurt. Getting hit in a sim wasn't the same as the real world (Logan had safety settings in the Danger Room, irony of all ironies), but it still stung like a bitch getting knocked in the gut into a wall. She ripped off her glove at the same time she heard Gambit yell her name, followed by several quick explosions. They were larger than any explosion she'd known him to do before and the sound was louder as well-almost deafening. She tried to sit up quickly, but immediately her hand went to her head, dizzy from the hit and now from the large amount of smoke surrounding them.

Gambit, what seemed to be the real Gambit, was already at her side. She could vaguely hear him asking questions and felt his hands hovering all over her, probably looking for a sign of the explosion on her body. She was sure she imagined how unsteady he looked but all the same, while his voice sounded calm, the frenzied feeling she'd gotten from him earlier was still there behind his eyes and in the energy practically vibrating from him.

A mechanical voice came over the loudspeaker. "_Simulation. Over. No success."_ As the simulation flickered and started disappearing, Rogue could hear yells from her teammates (and Pyro) about being _this _close. It sounded like the four of them had all ended up in about the same area.

She didn't need Remy's help to stand, but she let him keep his arm around her bicep as she did so anyway. Something about the way he was looking around, mostly between her and the simulations of himself and Sabretooth disappearing, told her telling him what to do at that moment might not be the best choice, especially if she wanted things to stay getting better between the two of them. It was similar to the looks she'd seen in his eyes several times since he came back to Bayville and each time she saw those looks on his face she hated it even more.

Rogue waved her hand in front of her face, clearing the smoke as quick as possible. She gave a few coughs and looked up to Gambit, whose eyes were glued where the two simulations had just been, as well as several giant scorch marks still on the Danger Room floor.

* * *

Rogue pulled her brush through her hair aggressively, drying it as quick as possible while also wishing instead she were punching Scott in the face. What, he couldn't have taken five seconds to remove the Acolytes from the simulation? Not that it would have mattered: None of the other teams had faced simulations of actual people-all of the simulations they'd gotten were ghosts or monsters, Kitty had said on their way back upstairs. Scott had sent those two simulations there on purpose.

And why? To try to remind her Gambit used to be someone she only saw as a bad guy? To trip Gambit up and make him fight himself? If Scott had wanted that, he shouldn't have picked Sabretooth to go in as well. That or he hadn't known what Rogue immediately had instinctively known as Soon as they saw the sims and they began battling: no way was Remy going to give her the harder battle when he could do it himself. Even if she'd tried to go for Sabretooth, she was fairly certain Gambit would have maneuvered them to trade enemies somehow.

Satisfied her hair was done, she walked out of the bathroom and flopped onto her bed, groaning.

There was a soft knock on her door and she lifted her head up towards her bedroom door, wondering if she'd imagined it. No one ever came to her room except Kurt and Kitty. Kitty would just phase in ("we're roommates we've seen each other naked enough times it's not weird" Kitty had said, like that made it okay), and Kurt's knock was much more exuberant. Another knock came, louder this time.

She raised an eyebrow and pushed herself off the bed. It could be Jean, she guessed, but Jean normally would reach out telepathically before coming to her room. Rogue grabbed the handle and as she opened the door realized that, although she would have expected him from the balcony, she probably should have known it would be Gambit at her door.

She froze as she looked up at him, hair still slick from the Danger Room and blood still on his forehead from the hit he'd taken. "...This is the girl's hallway?" Great, apparently intelligent thought was not going to be her strength this time when he came to her room either.

He grinned. "Not gonna get caught."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to let him in before closing it behind them. She leaned back against the door, aware that again she was only wearing very short shorts and a hoodie that suddenly felt zipped far too low. She wondered if she zipped it up if it would draw more attention from him or less. "So. You came to the front door this time, huh?"

He chuckled and leaned against her vanity, arms crossed. "Wouldn't want Wolvie t' figure out how easy it is f' me t' sneak into y' room."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, cause you care what he thinks."

He grinned again and she suddenly felt much better. She hadn't realized how off-kilter his behavior in the Danger Room had made her until they were back in her room, okay to act how they wanted without worrying about what other people thought. "True, but if he finds out he'll try t' actually make it a challenge f' me t' sneak back in here."

She found herself grinning back and sat down on her bed, pulling on her gloves, satisfied her hands were dry enough from after the shower to do so. A heavy silence fell over them, jokes falling to the wayside. It wasn't awkward silence so much as it was loaded, but still she didn't like it.

"Scott shouldn't have done that." He looked her in the eyes but didn't answer, waiting for her to speak more. She even had trouble hearing herself as she added, "he was being a dick." It wasn't very specific, but it was true.

Remy looked down towards his feet and she heard him let out a breath before he straightened and walked over to sit next to her.

"Wasn't the only one," was his answer.

She resisted the urge to pull her knees up to her chest, and settled instead for putting her hands on the comforter on each side of her thighs. This time she was the one who remained quiet to let him keep talking.

"Y' okay." It was a statement, not a question. When she didn't respond right away, he gestured towards her abdomen. It took her a second to remember she'd been hit in the Danger Room.

"Oh. That. Yeah," she looked down to where he meant and then back up at him. "Hits from sims with fire or explosives or anything able to injure badly like that are set to hit you without hurting too much. Feels more like a punch than anything."

He nodded in response, but didn't react much more to that information. He rested his elbows on his knees, bent over, and from that angle she could only see his ear and his jaw tightening over and over for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Y' ever…" He stopped and ran a hand over his face before leaning back on his hands and turning his face to hers. He sounded so tired again, just as he had when they'd been fighting. She knew the feeling. It wasn't about the actual fight necessarily (it never was). For her, it was usually more so being tired to the bone with whatever it was that sparked the fight. He looked up towards the ceiling and again she could see he was choosing his words carefully. Normally, she felt like words came so easily to him, no matter the situation-it was a skill she _almost _wished she could absorb and keep if she could do it without negative side effects for either of them - and it only made his occasional hesitation in the several days since he'd come back all the more obvious.

"Y' ever think what y'd be if y' could've gotten out from under Mystique's thumb quicker?"

She quirked an eyebrow at the subject change, unsure of where he was going with this, and allowed herself to pull one knee up to hug to her chest. "Wouldn't do much good, would it?"

He looked at her momentarily, his eyes openly telling her (for once) that he knew that would be her answer; his answer would be the same about Jean-Luc, after all. He pulled out a deck of cards again and began playing with them as he had the other day, watching the cards move. She found herself watching them just as closely, letting the silence drag on as they both watched his skilled hands move the cards this way and that. It was calming almost, to watch his hands smoothly move the cards in whatever pattern he picked.

Finally he spoke again, words obviously chosen very carefully and almost in a rehearsed manner. "Y' team's not Mystique. They're good t' you. I see that." He paused again. "But it don't mean Scott don't use y' loyalty t' take advantage. Same as her."

She jerked back, creating space between them. "You're comparing Scott to Mystique?"

He sighed and took her hand. She pulled away and this time he let her instead of hanging on tighter. "How he's actin', yeah."

Her lips pursed and she glared at him, looking at her so levelly as he waited for a response. He reached his hand slowly towards hers again, as if she were a wounded animal. In a way, she almost felt like it. "Scott isn't anything like Mystique. He _hates _her. He wouldn't..." her voice cut off abruptly, too angry to find any more words in his defense.

Softly she felt his hand grab her own, holding it so gently he was barely even gripping it. His voice felt as soft as his grip. "'S not my place. I know. An' I shouldn't have gotten pissed at you 'bout it earlier. Y' a big girl an' y' don't _need _me...but it _is_ nice t' have someone watchin' out f' y' sometimes, right?" The same words he'd already said, echoed again. Weirdly, she wanted to give a very hesitant, very quiet 'yes'. She chose not to and looked away from him, teeth clenching.

She let out a long exhale and felt their hands, still connected very softly, come to rest on the bed between them. She could feel his eyes watching her closely.

"I don't want this t'..." he stopped and started again, his voice a little more normal this time. "Y' were right. 'Bout work time being separate from friend time." The low volume only served to magnify the warm timbre of his voice.

She looked over to him, still not ready to turn and look at his face fully, but curious enough to meet his eyes a little bit.

He gave a soft snort. "Prob'ly shoulda thought of that sooner, huh?"

She felt a small smile in the corner of her lips, unable to keep her muscles from moving. "Guess so."

"So."

"So."

"So. We...jus' keep our noses out of other team business. Like y' said." She turned her face more towards him as he spoke. "An' t' be smart, make sure Magneto doesn't know."

She felt herself grin a little at him. "Wouldn't take kindly to you befriending the enemy, huh?"

His lips tightened momentarily before answering. "Don't care so much 'bout him knowin' as a concept. Jus' would rather not let him in on my personal life."

She looked away and nodded, staring at the wall opposite them. She took a deep breath. "Deal."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she swore she could see him smile a little. "Okay, then. Deal."

There was a small moment of silence before she turned to him and found herself reaching for his forehead. His gaze followed her hands the whole time, watching her with eyes full of curiosity.

"Got you good, huh?" He winced a little as she touched his forehead.

""S not so bad. It'll clean up quick. Y' know head wounds."

She nodded absently, brushing his hair back a little from where the blood reached his hairline. Remy winced when she touched a particularly tender spot and her eyes widened as she pulled her hand away, a knee jerk reaction. Normally when she touched someone and they winced or gasped, she was either accidentally too close to their skin (exactly why she didn't make stupid decisions like reaching out to someone like she just did), or she actually did touch their skin with hers and her powers took effect.

Almost immediately she felt his thumb brushing the side of her hand, which was still held so softly in his, both still resting on her comforter. Again, the sensation made her stomach flip and her face feel like it was tingling. It made her uncomfortable, but not necessarily in a "this is terrible" way. More of a "what is _happening_" way.

If he noticed, he didn't let on. "Now a good time f' friend time then?"

She wrinkled her nose. "If you shower first. You smell like the county fair."

He laughed and the grin remained on his face as he leaned closer to her. "Would, but the boys showers seem t' be busy at the moment. Somethin' 'bout John and the ice kid. Y' stuck with smelly me."

"You are _not _gonna stink up my room, Swamp Rat," she said, dryly.

He leaned even closer. "Too bad, _chère_. No other option, 'less y' got a secret shower in here I can use."

She froze, stuck on why the idea of him in her shower with just a wall between them made her heart stutter. Finally (_finally) _she found her voice. "Might be outta hot water, but actually I do." She used her free hand to gesture towards the bathroom. Using her free hand only made her all the more aware of his thumb slowly tracing patterns on her other hand.

His eyes followed her hand, looking towards the door. "No more communal showers for you, huh?"

She shook her head, even though he wasn't looking in her direction. "When we rebuilt the Mansion the Prof made plans for the senior members to all have suites. Kit and I share a bathroom."

He turned back to meet her eyes, but she was already standing, her hand leaving the warmth of his and she was somewhat sad for the loss. She needed to move. Somehow. Her heart was beating far too fast.

"Kit and I already both showered, so like I said, hot water might be gone." He followed her as she walked into the bathroom to lock Kitty's side of the door. She turned once she finished, facing him, and again she was stuck on how...surreal?...the idea of Gambit in her shower was, so she continued on playing the role of hostess to keep herself moving. His eyes were quietly on her the whole time, from their walk to her pointing out where to find things to when she bent over to show him how to jiggle the faucet to get the water to heat up.

After she finished explaining and started to move toward the door, he began pulling his shirt off, effectively blocking her path to get through the door as he did so unless she wanted to duck and go under his very wide arm span.

If she hadn't felt like breathing was impossible before, now it _really _was. Her mouth was incredibly dry, despite the remaining humidity left in the bathroom from her own shower. And she'd thought the muscles on his _arms_ were defined. Holy shit, the man's torso was like it was from a movie screen, every inch of his tanned skin toned and muscular. Different from what she'd seen in the movies, however (outside of the fact that this was very real - not a dream - and happening in front of _her_) was the patchwork of scars covering his torso and (she noticed in the mirror) his back. Some were small, some medium sized, but plenty of scars young and old. She wanted to reach out and touch one, but thought better of it for many reasons (chief among them she was the untouchable girl: can't really touch people if they can't touch you).

She could barely even hear his voice, muffled through the shirt, as he thanked her. When his shirt finally came off, his insufferable smirk was on his face and she luckily remembered to nod at him in response, trying to keep her eyes from looking as obviously panicked as they did in the mirror. "See you in a few then," he paused and his smirk became a shit eating grin. "Unless you wanna stay?"

Shit.

He definitely saw her looking.

Not like her face, red as a tomato, wouldn't have given it away anyway, she thought to herself as she hurried past him and closed the door between them, leaning against it briefly to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and brought her hand to her chest, willing her heart rate to calm down even just a little. Remy LeBeau was shirtless in her bathroom.

Shit, he wasn't just shirtless. He was probably completely naked by now, she realized as she heard the water turn on.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?


	9. Chapter 9

Hello!

Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows! I'm so happy people are enjoying reading this cause I'm having a blast writing it!

So I tried to put in a little French because it fit, but it's definitely from google translate. I took German in high school and never did great with French in my voice lessons/etymology classes in college, so I'm just going to hope I didn't make too much a fool of myself. If I made a mistake I'm always very happy to learn/be made aware so I (hopefully) don't make the mistake again.

This chapter is brought to you by fluff. And like plot developments but mostly fluff. Felt like we all deserved a little fluff with all the tension and plot setting up that's been going on and what's to come haha

There is also a quote in here that I would never be funny enough to come up with myself: I saw it from A Very Potter Musical (and I think that's the original source?) but it fit what was happening really well so it stayed in.

Last, thanks as always to thehazeofdusk for always having the best edits. Idk if I've said it before but her stuff is phenomenal so check her out if you're looking for a good read.

Anyway. I hope you're having a great day and this brings you a little joy :)

**Chapter 9**

Rogue sighed, rubbing the heel of her hand into her forehead. She was _trying_ to get her homework done while Remy showered, hoping it would get her chest to calm down a little. She'd tried to be productive while he was in the bathroom, but nothing she tried had kept her mind from wandering back to the idea of him yards away in her shower. It brought up too many images she couldn't ignore-especially after she'd seen him shirtless. She would manage one sentence of reading and suddenly-bam! A way too vivid image of Remy, shirt off, steam around him, water flowing down his body from his broad shoulders down those rock hard abs and down even further to - SHIT.

So she'd written a note to meet her in the library, left it on the floor in front of the bathroom door for him, and taken off. And here she was, trying desperately to do her homework instead of think about anything else. Math was very interesting, afterall.

It wasn't like she'd never seen a guy shirtless. Evan was known for stripping his shirt off when he played basketball. Several of the guys at the Institute were.

But none of them looked like Remy when their shirts were off. That had to be why she couldn't stop imagining and remembering his how his strong, lean torso had looked, how his muscles had flexed and moved as he'd taken his shirt off, how (when she'd tried to look away from his torso) the muscles on his back had made him all the more overwhelming and - SHIT.

That asshole. He had to have known that would fluster her so much. It's not like guys stripped in front of her _that_ close ever. No other guy probably would, although she was pretty sure that didn't matter-after seeing Remy how could any other guy beat that? He was incredibly fit and although he'd been covered in scars, it only made the image of him with his shirt off all the more - SHIT.

That or he was just so used to people stripping in front of each other he'd forgotten she would have zero experience with it. Or...maybe he thought she did have experience with it? Although she hated to admit it, his time in New Orleans (and the subsequent time with his psyche in her brain for a little bit) had told her that without a doubt he did take that kind of stuff into consideration a little at least. He wouldn't go out of his way to make her comfortable (which is good. That would just feel patronizing), but he had given her a certain amount of respect by thinking ahead when it came to things dealing with her powers. Not that taking his shirt off was particularly disrespectful, it was just...flustering. How was she supposed to know what to do with that?

Probably not keep thinking about it. This was probably normal for _anyone _else, but it wasn't like she could up and ask Kitty or Jean what she was supposed to do when a guy took his shirt off a foot away from her. Kitty would have a field day and Rogue had a sneaking suspicion Jean might react the same.

She was going to murder him. Slowly and painfully, she was going to murder him, friend or not.

"Homework again?"

She jumped, although to give herself some credit, she didn't think it was as visibly as last time he'd snuck up on her. She swore internally-how did he move so silently all the time? She let out a soft snort, and tried to ignore the wide grin on his face she could see out of the corner of her eye. "Busywork is more like it. But yeah."

Remy plopped down in the chair next to her, hair still wet from the shower but drying somewhat quickly. It was weird-she known he'd use her soaps, but it just smelled so different on him in a sort of nice way. Not that he didn't smell nice normally, because...he kind of did (although she'd take that information to her grave). It was just interesting how the same soap could smell so different on him, softer even. She kind of liked it on him.

"How much work they really expect y' t' do?" the disbelieving expression on his face as he moved his hand over the pile of books and papers was comical, almost cute even.

She snorted again. "Apparently they want us drowning in it every night. This isn't due for a few more days though, so I don't need to finish it now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Thought y' note said y' had stuff y' needed to finish t'night?"

She blinked but hoped she was able to maintain an admirable effort at keeping her face unperturbed. She shouldn't have been so specific on why she _had_ to go downstairs. "Math. Just finished it. Ready for friend time?" She stood, trying to be nonchalant as she stuffed her papers into her bag and tried to move past the subject. Maybe it's because it was him and he was really good at reading people, but she was starting to think lying about homework to escape being in her room (with him naked on the other side of the wall) was a worse choice than having to sit in her room and wait for him to finish.

"No French?"

"You're really rarin' to go on that, huh?"

He shrugged and grinned at her. "Well, seein' as y' professor's an idiot, 'm just gonna have t' take charge o' y' _éducation française, oui_?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Okay, _Professeur LeBeau_, do you want to hang out or focus on my education?"

He put his finger to his chin, playing at pondering. "Tough choice. On one hand, 'm sorry how did y' jus' pronounce that?" She swatted at him and he laughed as he continued. "On th' other...yeah, let's go hang out."

"Hang out?"

Rogue froze, realizing who exactly was behind them even before Kitty was suddenly right at her side, blue eyes gleaming with far too much excitement. "OMG, that's what we're doing! Right, Pete? We were gonna head to the family room to catch Chopped! Pete's never seen it before. Right, Pete?"

It was hard to not catch some of Kitty's enthusiasm, something Rogue was grateful for in the moment because she wasn't quite sure what she and Gambit would even do while hanging out at the Institute in the first place. He could probably think of things too, but it was the host's job to pick what they did, right?

She was struck with how bad she was at being friends with anyone outside of the Institute, not that she'd had much practice outside of … well. She guessed it wasn't as if Risty had actually counted as a friendship anyway in the end. Between Kitty's death grip on her waist (and Pete's wrist) they didn't have much choice but to follow along, but not having to worry about if Remy was enjoying whatever activity they'd picked took a lot of pressure off of Rogue.

She had just managed to pull Kitty's arm off her waist when she heard Remy's low voice in her ear from behind, making her jump again. "Didn't y' say she sucks at cookin'?"

"Jesus, Cajun! Do you have to do that every time?" How the hell was that man so silent? She looked quickly towards her former roommate, satisfied that the smaller girl was not watching how close the two southerners were in proximity, nor that she had heard what Remy said.

Remy bumped her shoulder with his own, a smirk firmly on his face as he chuckled, "Nah, but it's jus' too much fun watchin' you jump an' get all squeaky."

Rogue wrinkled her nose, honestly just trying to keep herself from smiling back, as she bumped him back lightly. "Whatever, Swamp Rat."

* * *

"I _knew_ it." Kitty and Rogue were up at the front of the tv room, changing the tv settings and cords so they could access something other than one of the consoles the gaming enthusiasts constantly had hooked up.

"Knew what?" Rogue hissed back.

"Gambit was _totally _in our shower!"

Rogue did her best to not look back and make sure he hadn't heard their whispered conversation. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kit-"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You _totally _didn't let the cute guy that took you on a romantic, whirlwind trip use your shower after you paired up to work together in the Danger Room. Just like he _definitely _wasn't in your room last night after curfew."

"I- what? Romantic?- Kit, come on-that's not-" Rogue was not one to stutter, she felt, but this topic apparently was enough to make her do so. She looked over her shoulder, quickly, relieved to see Remy and Piotr seemed to be deep in their own conversation back on the couch.

"Right," Kitty answered back, looking entirely too smug for Rogue's liking.

"Do you actually need my help or did you just ask me to come over here to interrogate me?"

"Changing the subject, I see."

"Kit, shut up."

Her smile became all the more smug as she plugged in a cord and the tv sprung to life. Kitty stood up, grinning, and practically skipped back to sit in the empty chair beside Piotr. She immediately began playing with the remote and Rogue slowly stood to find a place to sit, eternally grateful when she realized Remy had vacated the chair he'd been in, now seated on the loveseat next to Pete, leaving her an armchair all to herself. She shot him what she hoped he knew was a grateful smile and was relieved when his lips worked upwards into a small smile back at her.

"Oh, what are we watching? Can we join?" Amidst settling into her chair, Rogue turned to see Jean, followed closely by Scott as she entered the room.

While Jean looked genuinely interested in joining in, the second Scott locked in on Remy's presence there was an immediate sour note coming from him. Remy, for his part, was not actively antagonizing Scott in that moment. After turning back to see who had spoken he'd pulled out some cards and began shuffling, a neutral look on his face. His expression wasn't so much bored or blank as it was carefully void of giving Scott a reaction.

The only reaction he really gave was the look she saw flash across his face when she turned back towards the tv as well, choosing to let Kitty jabber away about watching a cooking show and "sure! pull up a chair"; it felt like, to her, almost a mirror of the appreciation she'd sent his way minutes ago. He wasn't overtly thanking her, but he was thankful for some reason, she thought.

She wasn't turning away from Scott for him, but if it made Remy feel better or kept away those weird vibes he'd occasionally had when his face went similarly blank, she was glad her action was doing double duty. Truthfully, she didn't want to be near Scott at the moment.

He was her friend and he was a really good guy...it just was getting deeper and deeper down and harder to spot when so much pressure was on him to lead (even if a lot of the pressure was put on by himself). She felt for him in general and wanted to be there for him, but not after Danger Room sessions like today. It was just unfortunate that this was becoming more and more common.

She was worried that if she opened her mouth, she'd chew Scott out. Normally she had no issue with chewing anyone out, least of all Scott when he was acting like a douche, but she found herself trying to avoid it at the moment. She had a feeling if she did, it would only spark Remy into action as well and part of her (a lot of her) was curious what it would be like for them to have more than a few hours without the tension of the outside world disturbing the peace they'd made. Scott and Remy fighting would definitely disturb that.

Luckily, Kitty was there to do all the finagling and guiding of the situation and she soon had an episode up and streaming as Jean and Scott seated themselves on the loveseat to the other side of Kitty, who had plopped on the floor right in front of Piotr. There was a constant stream of chatter from Kitty that kept a lot of the awkwardness of the situation at bay.

Overall, it wasn't as uncomfortable as Rogue had thought it would be the second Scott and Jean had entered. In general, Scott kept to himself and really only addressed Jean, Kitty, and Rogue. Occasionally Pete. Remy, for his part, seemed to prefer that, spending most of his time playing a card game on the table in front of him while occasionally commenting back and forth with Pete, Kitty, and herself. It was almost normal, even though an immense amount of effort was being put in from multiple parties to keep it so chill. They all bantered back and forth, picking which contestant would win, but Rogue didn't find herself paying too much attention to the actual show on a whole, especially when her choice got out in the first round. She was more aware of how...nice?...it felt actually being a little social.

She'd hung around with everyone here before, with the exception of Pete, but something about this time just felt more...whole. She was actually relaxed and didn't feel any of her normal anxieties over worrying she'd bump into someone or that they'd think she was sitting too close or that she'd come off too blunt or not say enough. It was different to be in a larger group setting and feel as comfortable as she would with one or two people.

Even when some of the New Recruits came in and crowded the space, she didn't feel like there were so many people she couldn't breathe. Sometimes everyone was so used to being physically close while they interacted that the only safe option was for Rogue to back away. She didn't really have much of a choice but to stay usually, but it made most social gatherings incredibly uncomfortable. It was her power and her responsibility, but sometimes she did find herself deciding isolation was much easier than having to be the only one who was looking out for safety with her powers.

There wasn't much of an opportunity to move away anyway once the Newbies settled in. When everyone began piling into the room, before people had started to move themselves around and find seating, Remy had taken it upon himself to move from the couch next to Rogue to plop himself down in front of the chair she was curled up in, leaning back against it casually. He didn't speak much, but she did like that he was acting much more relaxed right now than he had in front of her since New Orleans. He would occasionally lean his head back, looking at her upside down as he would comment on the show or something someone had said. Even with his proximity, it didn't feel stifling. It just felt normal, even if she was still a little on edge about Remy and Scott being in the same room. Luckily, both guys were still ignoring each other's presence.

"Huh?" She looked down to meet Remy's eyes, having missed what he'd said to her due to her musings, his now dried hair brushing softly against her ankle as he let his head rest back on her chair's cushion. She could almost feel it through her tights.

He laughed softly before speaking again. "Was askin' what y' supposed t' do with a basket with dates and squid."

She found herself smiling down at him, unable to resist when she heard his joking tone, almost wanting to reach over and ruffle his hair. "Uhm. Chuck it all into a blender and call it deconstructed?"

He laughed again, louder this time, eyes never leaving hers. "Who knew y' was such an avant garde master chef, _chère_?"

"I don't know. You guys did a pretty great job on dinner last night-not much of a surprise to me," Jean shrugged.

Remy's eyes slid in Jean's direction, but his head stayed leaned back on Rogue's chair enough for her to see his cocky grin as he answered. "Thanks, _p'tite_."

"It was way better than having to order pizza for sure. You guys did a great job," Kitty cut in, grin wide as she looked towards Rogue and Remy.

"Wait, weren't you on dinner detail with Rogue last night, Kitty?" Scott added his voice for probably the first time to the group conversation.

"She was but Swamp Rat here helped me out instead. Kit had homework, right?" Rogue lied smoothly.

Kitty nodded in affirmative and grimaced for show. Rogue was impressed at her quick acting considering she'd never shown up in the first place. "Trig. Gambit was a real help stepping in for me so I didn't leave Rogue all on her lonesome."

"Not a problem, _p'tite_. Couldn't leave her t' cook on her lonesome when I have so many culinary talents t' offer, eh, _chère_?" He grinned up at her, tone teasing.

Before she could answer, a voice cut in. "Wait, what does that mean anyway?"

Remy's head turned with Rogue's towards Bobby as he answered. ""M a good chef?" She wasn't sure she would have noticed how warm his tone had sounded just seconds before until this moment when she heard the complete tonal shift in his answer to Bobby. It wasn't cold, per say, just lacking the energy it'd had seconds before.

"Not that. Whatever it is you called Rogue. Shah or whatever."

""S jus' what I call her sometimes."

"Yeah, but what does it mean?"

"Does it matter?" Kitty cut in, a frown firmly on her lips.

"Not really. Just weird to hear someone have a cutesy nickname for Rogue like that. She's just...Rogue."

That mentality wasn't anything new to Rogue. Remy, she could tell, was not liking Bobby's train of thought. She could hear the frown in his voice and his drawl became all the thicker. "What, she cain't have nicknames like everyone else?"

"Well, yeah she can, but - "

"But what?" Jean asked, making Rogue continue to feel steadily like the center of the conversation and thus everyone's attention.

"But he called you and Kitty 'petite' and called Rogue something else. Why would Rogue have a special nickname?"

Rogue knew it wasn't her imagination when she saw the muscles at the base of Remy's neck tighten.

Jean answered quickly, trying her best to play the peacemaker. "Is there a reason she shouldn't?"

"Well I don't know. It just sounds like...maybe it's because it's French sounding, but it sounds like something you'd call a girlfriend like babe or whatever and the other one doesn't. Geeze, it's just a question."

Rogue knew she was blushing and tried to keep her gaze and expression steady. If she were better at French, she'd probably know and be able to end this debate once and for all.

"And what, Rogue couldn't ever be someone's girlfriend?" Kitty asked, annoyance seeping into her tone. For someone so central to the conversation at hand, Rogue hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise.

"Well…" Bobby froze for a second, eyes looking around the room. It wasn't silent, the show was still on and Tabby was still talking to Ray and Sam about something or other, but still too many people were tuned in to this conversation for Rogue's liking. "But. That's not what I mean it's just...it's Rogue?" When no one responded or agreed with him, Bobby continued on, in true Bobby fashion. "C'mon, guys. You know what I mean."

"What exactly is it, y' mean?" If Remy's voice hadn't been cold before, it was now.

"I don't mean it like that. It's just like...it's different with her."

"Says who?" Kitty countered.

"Says who's going to try to date someone who can't touch. No offense, Rogue." Well. At least he had the decency to say that. This wasn't a new thing for Rogue to hear and she knew he was right. It sucked to be reminded of (especially in front of so many people), she couldn't be offended by the truth, she reasoned as she shrugged half heartedly.

"Look, I call Rogue _chère _because I call her _chère_. Ain't nothin' else to it." The annoyance in Remy's tone was evident, and she knew for sure she was also hearing the beginning of boredom over Bobby not just letting it go.

"Why not call Jean and Kitty that too then?"

If she could see his face, Rogue imagined Remy was rolling his eyes as he shrugged. "B'cause she is and they aren't. Simple." For all the nonchalance of his body language, his voice still gave away that he was annoyed and very tired of Bobby's choice in conversation. If this conversation could be good for _one_ thing, at least she now knew she could easily identify annoyance and boredom in the Swamp Rat.

"Are you calling your friends sometimes 'bro'?" Piotr suddenly cut in, the first he'd spoken in a while. His voice was calm, but it was strong enough to get everyone's attention.

Bobby looked confused. "Well...yeah?"

"But sometimes they are not bro. They are dude."

"Sure."

"It is like this. Rogue is called one thing and others different and this is okay."

"Yeah, Bobby. You don't need to be a douche," Kitty followed, hands on her hips.

That seemed to mostly settle the conversation from there. At least Bobby only had a weak response (I said 'no offense!'), and everyone else was clearly not going to answer him back, if that was any indication to how done the topic was. Quickly, everyone's attention turned back to the show: everyone seemed to either be watching Rogue out of the corner of their eyes very closely or trying to act normal and not look at her.

All except Remy.

He had gone oddly quiet once Pete had begun speaking. He didn't seem angry, but still she could tell he was annoyed by the way he was cutting his deck of cards quickly, over and over, almost mechanically in nature. She wasn't sure anyone but her or Pete saw it really, but his annoyance was there.

He wasn't turned back, watching her face carefully to gauge her reaction, but all the same she felt like he, along with several others, were waiting to see how she would react. It was ridiculous, but she felt like her face was put on a gigantic billboard and everyone was watching her and only her. Rogue looked down at her hands quickly and then back up at the tv screen, trying to signal she didn't care about Bobby's stupid questions to not only the entire room (including Remy) but also herself.

* * *

"I said what I said!"

Rogue found herself chucking a pillow from her bed at Remy's face, only serving to make him laugh harder (although she'd hoped the pillow would have muffled him _some_).

"Swamp Rat!"

He laughed even harder and she had to fight to not give in and laugh with him, already forgetting what she'd even initially said in the first place. It was hard not to when he laughed like that, even if she knew Kitty could probably hear them. It was a nice laugh, a rich baritone with a big smile and eyes crinkled at the corner attached to it. There wasn't much else she could do than give in and let herself laugh along with him, even if she knew Kitty could probably hear them from her room, although Rogue did manage to roll her eyes in the process.

She probably shouldn't laugh (it would only encourage him) but all the same she couldn't really help it, she told herself. Not when he'd scared the shit out of her: the Acolytes hadn't joined them for the morning Danger Room session (and she could see why after yesterday's debacle, although a very small part of her had woken up hoping Scott hadn't run them out yesterday), so she'd nearly jumped out of her skin when she'd walked back in her room after the session and Remy had been just sitting there apparently waiting for her to get back as he lounged on her bed reading a book.

"Whatever, Swamp Rat. I need to shower. You can have friend time _after_." She pulled her leg and chest armor off (as well as her belt) and then began grabbing for a fresh set of clothing before heading towards the bathroom, refusing to look at him and making sure to not let him see how nervous the concept of showering with him on the other side of the wall made her. But if he could be so calm about it, she could act like she was too, right?

"Y' need help with that?"

She resisted the urge to push his face out of the bathroom like a five year old and opted instead to fix him with a glare and put her hands behind her neck to start unzipping. "Got it just fine on my own, Cajun. You gonna get out of here or not?"

Remy's eyebrows were raised and his eyes were locked on to her hands at the back of her neck where she was very slowly unzipping her uniform as steadily as she could without making herself look like an idiot. She saw his tongue dart out and wet his bottom lip before he smirked and took a step into the bathroom, leaning against the door frame. "That supposed to make me leave?"

She frowned, almost dropping her hands from her zipper as she suddenly didn't feel as comfortable with the game she'd started anymore. Why didn't he get how dangerous being around her was? Did he just not care because he thought their friendship was worth it, for some reason? Or did he just not care about the risk because he was a risk taker who had no regard for his own safety, to the point of not caring about himself at all? "Most people who don't want to accidentally end up in a coma would, yeah."

His smirk widened and he leaned in towards her slightly, arms crossed tightly over his chest and voice low; warm and husky like honey and spices. "'M not most people, _chère_." In the brightness of the bathroom, the red of his eyes had become so small it looked like his eyes had been very recently dilated, like at the eye doctor. She found herself copying his previous action and wetting her own bottom lip.

She cleared her throat and leaned back from him, face hot and feeling grateful when he immediately backed away as well, although he didn't retreat as far as she had.

"I'm not zippin' further until you get your ass out of here." She narrowed her eyes at him as she readjusted her arms to grab the zipper from behind her back between her shoulder blades now that it was low enough from the other angle, but refused to move the zipper further down her back.

He grinned and held up his hands in mock surrender as he backed out slowly. "Y' drive a hard bargain, _chère, _but a man knows when to admit defeat."

"You gonna close the door?"

"Depends. This count as 'out of here' enough f' y' t' keep unzippin'?"

"Depends. You want to put yourself more at risk for a coma?"

"Well, I have been overdue f' one," he said, putting a mock thoughtful expression on his face.

"Overdue my ass. Shut the door, LeBeau."

He grinned widely this time and another laugh escaped him. "Yes, ma'am," he said as he gave a salute and pulled the door closed, finally leaving her the privacy to finish getting out of her uniform and take her shower.

She finished stripping quickly and began running the water. Before she jumped in she couldn't resist yelling over her shoulder through the door "And no peeking!" and she was gratified to be met with another peal of laughter through the door.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes again. If nothing else, he kept things interesting. It was hard to predict what he was going to say or do sometimes, she thought to herself as she began lathering soap over her body. She cleaned herself quickly and maybe scrubbed harder than necessary, although she couldn't scrub away the image her brain supplied of Remy in her shower barely 12 hours ago. She knew what he looked like with his shirt off now for sure, so it wasn't a big leap to suddenly imagine him in the shower with her; short hair plastered to his head under the nozzle, eyelashes sticking together from the water, and worst of all the image of soap and water running down his strong shoulders to his chest to his washboard abs and down further and further to - SHIT.

Rogue hurriedly scrubbed herself wishing for once there was a psyche in her head to distract her from thinking about Remy naked in her shower. She was a little worried she especially couldn't get the image out of her head. She got out of the shower in record time and threw her clothes on quickly, deciding mixing Remy and the shower was a terrible idea and it might be safest if he was no longer allowed in her shower or her room while she was showering. Picturing anyone naked felt like a lot for the girl who might only ever have visuals to offer or enjoy with someone in the future. What else was she really able to offer someone without compromising their safety? The whole thing felt infinitely bigger considering it was technically now her _friend _she was picturing, not a boyfriend or something. She definitely should not be stuck on this like she was.

She fluffed her hair in her towel as she exited the bathroom, finding Remy still sitting on her bed, but looking at his phone now instead of the book he'd previously been absorbing. He looked up at her, an absent smile on his face. "Looks like friend time might have to go on hold until after y' finish school."

She raised an eyebrow at him, looking for clarification.

"Got a text for a team meetin' I gotta head to in a few."

She shrugged. "Not much time in the mornin' anyway. Probably for the best."

He laughed softly. "True. Well..." he paused for a second as he stood to walk towards the door before turning back to her, an unexpectedly soft look on his face as he did so. "Don't think I've ever said this b'fore, but...have a good day at school?"

She smiled at him, feeling incredibly ridiculous at the same time as very natural and genuine in response to the way he was looking at her. "Have a good day at work, Swamp Rat."

He left quickly and she set about the rest of her morning routine, getting ready for school quickly so she had a chance to get to breakfast before Kurt swiped the last bagel.

It was weird. Sometimes their conversation clearly showed how little they'd actually interacted with each other in the scheme of things. There were pauses and stumbling over words that were familiar from her early days at the institute, but had long since passed with many of the X men who had been around the longest. To be fair, they _hadn't_ actually seen much of each other even if it occasionally felt like she'd known him for ages, despite his disappearance. Really some of their New Orleans trip shouldn't fully count towards that time learning each other either since he'd been pushing an agenda-not just talking to her. He'd always seemed so comfortable when talking that even when he did falter over something a little (unexpected, although probably explainable, even if she didn't know the explanation. She was picking up that something had altered his confidence a little in his time away, even if she didn't know what it was) he always made a smooth recovery. Potentially if he hadn't lived in her head for a bit she wouldn't notice it in the first place. In the end, it was there enough that Rogue knew she wasn't the only one stepping over egg shells while they figured each other out.

But other times, conversation, even when the situation or topic was completely unfamiliar to both of them (like a casual "have a good day" in the morning) flowed so freely and comfortably. Maybe it was because she knew their respective pasts had shaped them in similar molds: if it was foreign to her alone she felt almost lost and inadequate. But for the first time, when talking with Remy, Rogue felt like maybe she was on an even playing field with someone in a way that made a huge difference for her. If he was uncomfortable or new at this too (whatever the amount or reason) she didn't feel so self conscious. Even when she felt unsure what the right thing to say, she wasn't the only one wading in new waters here.

If you'd asked her even two days ago what would happen if Remy LeBeau came back to Bayville, "save my life, apologize for kidnapping me, basically ask for us to hang out and be friends, cook dinner for the institute with me, goof off and watch a cooking show with the X men, and show up to say good morning" would have been so far off her list. Maybe "fight me" or "ignore me" or even "kidnap me again", but then again this was Remy LBeau she was overanalyzing here. His name was basically synonymous with (among other things) unexpected.

She laughed to herself and was surprised that when she looked back at her own face in the mirror, the slight pink on her cheeks didn't mortify her or make her want to retreat to a safe place with no emotions. Instead she just realized it kind of made her look happy.

It wasn't a bad look.

* * *

Rogue was proud of herself when, after she'd finished school and trudged up to her room (relieved today was Scott's busy day at college so she was officially free of the Danger Room) and opened her door to find a Cajun lounging on her bed reading again, she didn't jump at all.

It was odd how it almost felt normal to see him there waiting for her after school. It had been such a short time he'd been at the Institute, but still it had been enough time that she knew he would potentially be in her room when she got back from school. Probably because he didn't have much else better to do at the Institute.

She entered, dropping her bookbag down by the door as she closed it, and he looked up from his book, smiling.

"Better not have your shoes on my bed, Cajun."

He laughed as he sat up and the entire absurdness of the situation made her stomach flip. Who would have thought she'd ever come home from school to find a friend (let alone a _guy _friend) (let alone a guy friend who was looking at her with a smile so different from his normal smirk) waiting in her room. On her bed. "Wouldn't dream of it, _chère_. Tante Mattie didn't raise no savage."

She had bent down and begun digging out the homework she needed done for tomorrow, but took a second to look up at him curiously. She hadn't heard him ever speak of an aunt or mother figure, only Jean-Luc. "Tante Mattie?"

She straightened and quirked an eyebrow at him, when he didn't respond. He looked frozen for a second, gaze somewhere off by her hips. Remy cleared his throat and scooched over on her bed to make room for her to settle in as he spoke. "She's part of th' family. Took over raising m' brother an' I from Jean Luc as often as she could."

Rogue nodded, intrigued to hear more about his family while trying to hide said intrigue. They were such a mystery-even when he'd been in her head, he'd been very careful to keep her out of everything involving his family and their secrets. She'd picked up some basic information about the Thieves Guild, but she'd gotten the feeling whatever information his psyche could keep from her, he did.

"Don't know much about your brother. Outside of the bad haircut experience, that is," She did her best to sound nonchalant, but she couldn't help her curiosity as she sat herself down next to him and spread her papers out, trying to also decide what she needed to work on first. After how his psyche had kept her from everything, she was honestly surprised when he answered her so smoothly.

"Henri. He's probably a couple years older," he said, mostly absently.

She hummed, not wanting to give him any reason to become skittish over sharing information. That's how she usually felt the second she said anything to someone else anyway. She pulled out her French homework sheet, figuring she _did _have the advantage of someone who spoke the language at that moment. She wouldn't if she saved it for after lights out.

"What we got t'day?" He leaned in closer to her to look and she was glad she'd chosen to wear her green ensemble that day-the mesh covering every inch of her shoulders and arms helped comfort her in the knowledge that he wasn't about to accidentally brush her when he leaned in so close. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination freaking out over all the terrible things that could go wrong, or just simply her discomfort from never really being so physically close to someone, but she swore she could feel the corner of his t-shirt brush against the mesh of her sleeve.

"Still rairin' to help me with my French?"

"Whatever French y'need, I'm y' man, _chère_."

His words were like lightning. Rogue wasn't entirely sure why that sounded so dirty to her. It wasn't like the guy was trying to joke about anything close to french kissing. Just...French. No kissing.

Shit. She never should have let him in her shower last night. It was seriously messing with her head. In no way should she be thinking about kissing outside of her books-even in the context of a joke. Let alone kissing in conjunction with her friend. Her friend who, she had just found out, was very aesthetically pleasing with his shirt off...

Luckily, the source of all her confusion was apparently very ready to distract her from said confusion. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders, sitting up even taller as he leaned over her shoulder even more. If the guy leaned any further his head was going to be way too close to resting on her shoulder. But if he could be comfortable next to a death trap...she could try too, right? That was apparently now her mantra, recognizing she'd thought it many times since Remy had come back.

His arm settled behind her, resting on the edge of the mattress as he leaned against the wall and reached for her paper to turn it slightly in his direction to read. Fuck, he was so warm. How was it he could radiate this much heat over to her without physically touching her? It was not good. Her heart wasn't beating fast, per say, but it certainly was beating as hard as it could.

Feeling slightly at a loss for words, flustered by how close he was (maybe she should tell him her personal bubble was bigger than he thought) (maybe he was forgetting how uncontrollable her powers were) (maybe he was stupidly not caring about the risk he was taking), Rogue took what she hoped was a very subtle calming breath. "This week's mostly vocabulary. I just gotta know how to spell 'em."

He turned his face toward hers and when she copied his motion, they were so close she could feel his breath on her lips, hot and slow. She looked down at his nose and then back into his eyes, which she found were locked onto hers. Instantaneously she felt like a dumb sixteen year old taking an exploding card from a random guy in a crate yard. Something about the way he was looking at her didn't make her feel so dumb though, which in and of itself was a weird feeling.

They both jumped as her door flung open hard enough for her to expect it to be disconnected from the hinges and one of Remy's arms immediately pushed her behind it while the other grabbed whatever he could, charging it immediately (her homework apparently...would her teacher accept "my friend blew up my papers" as as an excuse for not finishing it?).

Rogue groaned when she saw who was there, slumping back against the wall. "Ever heard of _knocking_?"

"I did. Not my fault you didn't hear me, Stripes."

Remy immediately relaxed and uncharged her homework, putting it back on the bed. She wasn't sure which Logan was going to hate more: her moving Remy's arm from in front of her, or her just leaving it there.

It probably didn't matter at the moment, because Logan's attention was solely on Gambit as he stalked closer to the bed. "Alright, how'd you get in here, bub."

"Through the door."

Rogue wanted to smack her face at Remy's answer. She moved his arm and sat up on her knees, deciding that might be the safest course of action at the moment.

"I know I didn't see you go down the girls hallway when everyone got home, Gumbo. Try again."

Remy did something then that Rogue wasn't sure anyone outside of Kitty and herself had ever gotten away with: he rolled his eyes.

Well. It was nice having a friend for the time it had lasted…

"Musta missed me."

"I don't _miss_ anything, Cajun."

Before Remy could dig himself in even deeper, she cut in. "I asked him for help with my French homework, Logan. He's here cause I asked him to be. The library was crowded so I said my room was fine."

Remy's expression was entirely too smug as he gestured towards her homework.

Miracle of all miracles, Logan looked back and forth between their faces, landing on hers for an extremely long moment before he let out a frustrated sigh instead of murdering the Acolyte before him. "Look, Stripes, there's a certain talk you didn't get when you moved in here - "

Her face immediately felt like it was on fire and she could only imagine what Remy would be thinking. "Logan, you are _not _gonna - ," he held up his hand for her to stop, effectively cutting her off.

" - about doors needing to be open if someone comes to visit your room." He shot a glare at Remy. "Wide open, bub. Got it?"

Remy shrugged in agreement but remained silent, looking entirely too relaxed for someone who just earned an incredibly high spot on Logan's "Most Wanted" list. Rogue nodded quickly, gulping and wanting this to be over as soon as possible so she could curl up in her sock drawer and sleep for days.

"And no sittin' on the bed together. One of you at the desk or on the floor at all times. Got it?"

"Loud and clear," Remy replied, somehow managing to sound incredibly calm with Logan glaring at him.

"And that best be the _only_ French you're teaching her, bub. Got it?"

Rogue felt a burst of frustration run through her and she fought to not roll her eyes, suddenly feeling very much like a teenager who got in trouble for messing around with her boyfriend, not someone doing homework with their friend. It made her feel like he was treating her like a kid. She knew he didn't trust any of the Acolytes (Remy in specific because of the kidnapping) but this all felt a little overkill. "We _got it_, Logan." She grabbed her French homework and plopped herself down on the floor next to the bed, resisting the urge to cross her arms and glare up at her mentor. Instead she grabbed a pencil and a book to put under her paper and began writing her name on the top of her worksheet.

Logan looked between the two of them a few times more and looked like he had more he wanted to say. He seemed to still be in a silent glaring match with Remy, communicating what Rogue would never guess, she assumed. Whatever it was, Logan grumbled something about "you better" before turning around and stomping out the door, making sure to kick it open even more on his way out.

There was a moment of silence after Logan left the room and just as Rogue was about to try to crack a joke to try to lighten the moment, she heard Remy reposition himself so he was laying on his stomach on the bed, long arm hanging over the edge while he rested his chin on his other to the side of her head.

"Thought Wolverine was supposed t' be scarier than that." Immediately, it almost felt like Logan had never come in the room. All the tension was gone and all Rogue could think is that only Remy LeBeau would survive an encounter with Wolverine and decide it wasn't scary enough. She looked up at him to reply and he turned his head towards her, a curious expression on his face. "Y' really never had th' 'keep the door open' chat b'fore?"

She snorted and looked away, trying to start filling out what she could of her worksheet. "It's not like there's much reason to with me, is there?"

She heard him shift above her and his right hand grabbed her own, stilling her pencil mid word. "Why do all of y' talk like that here?"

She sighed and turned to look at him and almost laughed at the fact that his face was almost just as close as it had been before Logan had interrupted. "Look, it's not an 'oh poor me' thing. Just...a reality. I'm not exactly able to do anything adults worry about, closed door or not."

He frowned and for a split second out of the corner of her eye she swore she saw his eyes dip down near her cleavage, which he now had a very convenient view of from his position (especially in her current attire-her tank didn't do much to cover her under the mesh). But again, why would he have been looking? It's like she'd just said; why look when you could never touch?

His hand didn't let go of hers and she was surprised at how naturally it seemed to fit around hers. "Don't know why y'd think that, _chèrie_."

"Probably because by the time I figure out my mutation I'm gonna be an old spinster," she tried to joke.

"Just b'cause y' power ain't in control, don't mean y' won't be able t' do everything y' want in life. Y' just gotta get a little creative, _ma chère _," he said, his voice so soft, so full of warmth, so actually positive she could eventually figure her mutation out that it almost made her want to cry. Everyone told her she could do it or she could figure out a way to live semi-normally, but Remy said it with so much more confidence than anyone else ever had. It was weird for her to hear for so many different reasons.

He took his hand off hers and pointed to the second word she'd filled in on the worksheet. "Close, but switch th' o and th' e." And just like that he'd seamlessly moved them into safer waters.

She nodded and erased, following his instruction and slowly they began to laugh and joke again as she worked herself down the sheet. He occasionally threw out bullshit level long answers, requesting that she please just write it under the right answer. No matter how she argued that she wasn't looking to piss of her French teacher, he still made them both laugh every time.

"Glad I could help y' t'day. Might not have time tomorrow," he said, looking at her paper seriously over her shoulder still. It was so out of the blue and random. Rogue felt her forehead wrinkle in confusion.

She turned to look at him and his gaze shifted from the paper to her eyes. "Might not be able to for a little while." She surprised herself when she felt her heart drop in her chest, realizing he was probably trying to tell her something about his work without actually telling her. It made sense. They had agreed to keep work and their friendship separate so it wasn't like he was going to tell her anything outright, even if he could.

He was watching her closely for a reaction and seemed satisfied when she nodded in response and looked back at her paper. "I'll be waitin' t' hear y' grade though. Soon." She nodded again, almost worried at how much relief she felt when he said that.

She cracked a grin, doing her best to not let her disappointment that he was going _somewhere _show. "I'll be waitin' to tell you my teacher's response to me writin' that," she said as she pointed to the one bullshit sentence she had agreed to write in at the bottom of her sheet. "Got a feeling she's not gonna like me tellin' her my friend says the grammar in her directions sucks."

He laughed, a playful smile on his face as she felt him shrug from behind her on the bed. "If she gets t' give you an F for my perfect French, I get t' grade her bad grammar. Y' sure y' don't wanna try sayin' it again?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Didn't sound right when I did it."

"Y' gonna let that stop you?"

She frowned, but almost lost it when she turned to see his grin grow even wider. "...No."

"Good. Now say it after me: '_Mon ami dit que vos instruction ne sont pas grammaticalement correctes'_."

"Well, I can't repeat it that fast!" She almost threw her arms up in frustration, to which she got to hear him laugh; loud, rich, and real.

"Okay, okay. Smaller phrases. '_Mon petit ami…_'"

"_Mon ami_ is friend though, right? That's not what you had me write down?" She looked down at her paper in confusion before looking up at him, surprised to see a similar pause in his expression akin to confusion before he waved her off and that quick moment seemed like nothing. Had she looked up a second later, she probably wouldn't have even seen it. Not that she had any idea what "it" was.

He smiled down at her, moving on apparently, and tapped her hair above her forehead (definitely not explaining any further-something almost she wanted to point out because how was she supposed to learn like that?). He simply repeated himself and waited for her to follow. She rolled her eyes, unable to stop a grin from overtaking her frown as she slowly repeated him.

* * *

When she awoke the next morning, it was not to her alarm or just gradually waking up. It was instead to the sound of Kitty shouting from the bathroom, incomprehensible at first. Rogue rubbed her eyes, and groaned trying to remember words.

"Rogue, there's no Danger Room! The professor called us down to the meeting room."

"Uniforms?" she asked blearily once she made her way to the bathroom door, opening it slightly to hear Kitty better.

"I'm just brushing my teeth, you can come in."

With the all clear given, Rogue opened the door fully and leaned against the door frame, almost like Remy had done the night beforehand. In her morning state, she couldn't control that she flushed at the thought of Remy in conjunction with the bathroom. She definitely did not need to think about that. Especially in front of Kitty, who seemed weirdly interested in figuring out why Remy was around Rogue so often.

"No uniforms. He said school clothes and then told me you weren't responding to his message so I should wake you up."

Rogue grunted and nodded in response and grabbed her own toothbrush.

"You're not normally this tired unless you didn't sleep well," Kitty said softly, big blue eyes watching Rogue carefully.

Rogue frowned quickly, saddened. Of everyone in the mansion, Kitty was the one who had suffered the most from Rogue's lack of sleep and constant nightmares from everyone (especially while Apocalypse was running wild), yet she was normally among the first to check in and make sure she was okay even with their new rooming situation. Kitty shouldn't have to worry after her. She tried her best to keep the nightmares at bay, but many, many nights she had kept them both up, unable to sleep. Despite her best efforts, Kitty always knew when she'd had a rough night.

"I'm good. Just slept deep. Really good, actually. Don't normally sleep so sound." Having finished brushing her teeth, she grabbed a brush to swipe through her hair. She met Kitty's eyes in the mirror, still worried-very aware Rogue wasn't often comfortable admitting when she had nightmares. She let her voice soften as she finished. "Promise, Kit."

A smile quickly overtook Kitty's face, a sing-song tone to her voice. "Was it Gambit keeping you up?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "He was helping me with my French homework and he left before lights out. That's literally all the details there are."

"That totally means there's more details! Spill!"

"We have to get to the meeting."

"You can spill on the way."

"Kit, there's nothin' to spill. We hung out, he helped me with my French, he left."

Kitty huffed as they began walking towards the elevator, grumbling to herself. "Nothing to spill, my ass. What guy who's clearly not in high school himself is going to take the time to help a girl out with her homework and that _really _be the only thing that happens?"

"R-Gambit, that's who. Especially with me."

Kitty rolled her eyes back. "Bobby's an idiot, you know that right?"

They stepped onto the elevator and Kitty pressed in the code to take them to the lower level. "What does that have to do with Gambit helping me with my French homework?"

Kitty looked back at her, an incredulous expression on her face. She was silent a moment before she smiled at Rogue softly. "Nothing. I just didn't get to tell you yesterday."

"Random, much?"

Kitty shrugged. "Do you think the Acolytes'll be there?"

Rogue shrugged. "Not sure. Hard to know if Magneto'd want them there when we don't know what the meeting's about." But probably not, she thought to herself, starting to get a feeling in her gut that whatever Remy had been talking around yesterday had happened.

The elevator dinged and the two girls exited, making their way to the meeting room quickly. The entire senior team, as well as the Professor, Logan, Beast, and Storm were all there, apparently waiting on them. No Acolytes in sight.

"Ah, good. You're here. Time to begin," the Professor said as they walked up to the group. "You may be wondering where Magnus and his team are."

"Not particularly," Scott grumbled, but shut up quickly after that.

"It appears my old friend and I are in a disagreement over the best way to stop Trask. We agree capture is the best plan, however the method is where we have found a problem. He and his team left late last night after I made it clear I would not stand by his decision to put civilian lives in danger to capture Trask, even if it would ultimately keep all of us safe."

"He really wants to let people get hurt?" Kurt said, clearly at least a little appalled by the concept.

The Professor pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, as if trying to put off a headache. "He seems to think no one would actually get hurt, however I have deemed the risk is too large. We will find a solution another way without potentially putting innocent people in danger."

"But, Professor, what if the Acolytes get to Trask before we do?" They all looked around at each other nervously, waiting for his response.

The Professor sighed heavily. "We will just have to do our best to keep that from happening. I have already called in to school to excuse you all for at least today so we can be ready at a moment's notice. I want all of you carrying your communicators and on alert unless Logan, Hank, Ororo or I say otherwise, are we clear? Now. I want you all to eat so you're ready to go. No waiting because you're not currently hungry-trouble could strike at any moment."

They nodded and Rogue frowned to herself. What would happen if they did have to stop the Acolytes? Could she really separate her friendship from Remy enough to do whatever the Professor asked? Would he do the same for Magneto? She'd known this was coming, but she had hoped it wouldn't come so soon. Maybe after they were a little more sure about how to navigate their friendship through smaller work time situations. She grabbed her communicator off the charger and followed Jean to the elevator to go grab breakfast.

* * *

Rogue sighed and flopped onto her bed face first. She guessed she hadn't needed to do her homework last night, although it was probably just as well done so she didn't have to worry about it later. Well. Maybe she should go downstairs with everyone else. She was still exhausted, but if she remained around another team member, she would be sure to wake up then. Coming upstairs was probably a waste of time, outside of grabbing her uniform.

She pushed herself off her bed and as she did so noticed something that didn't feel quite like sheets under her pillow.

She pushed her hair back off her face as she grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out. Once she did, she found herself fighting a smile, feeling warmth course from her cheeks to her toes. A card.

She flipped it over and was unsurprised to find it was another Queen of Hearts, but was surprised to see he'd written on this one again; what she was pretty sure was his number followed by '_in case you lost it'_.

She grabbed her phone quickly and double checked if it was the same number he'd given her previously, only to find she already had a text waiting from that number with just a winky face. She rolled her eyes, but still smiled. What a dork.

She texted back, taking a few seconds to decide the right thing to say without revealing information she couldn't before settling on just a normal smiley face.

Almost immediately he responded, a simple wide grinning smiley face.

She snorted. Yeah, he was definitely a dork. To be fair, he probably didn't have much time to send more than that though, if Magneto was moving as fast with his plan as she guessed he would. But also Remy LeBeau was still kind of a gigantic, emoji using texter, something that both did and didn't surprise her. Rogue grinned and went to the contact information to save him in.

It hadn't felt quite right before, saving his number on her phone. For one, she'd known it probably wasn't something people had unless he specifically wanted, but Hank had recently created a program to secure each of their phones so they were not only backed up to a secure server, but also incredibly safe to keep any private mutant information on even if the government came knocking. Between explosions and government task forces constantly beating down their door, it was something they'd been begging Hank to do for a while. Between Hank and Forge (although Rogue really did not like using anything Forge had created what with her previous experiences with the teen's creations), they'd finally managed to do it.

Beyond that, when Remy had basically ghosted her she'd been too annoyed and confused to even consider it (why give her the number if he didn't want to be in the loop?).

She hesitated, unsure of what to save him as. "Gambit" felt too impersonal now (and gave him away should anything go wrong technology wise). "Remy" felt too personal still. Just using his last name sounded stupid, as did his full name. She smiled and snickered to herself, having found the perfect solution. She quickly typed in "Swamp Rat" before saving. That should work for now.

She grinned.

Yeah, that definitely should work for now.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello! Here we got chapter 10-some plot, some Remy POV, and some more fluff.

Thank you for all the follows/favorites! Very appreciated and it always makes my day to see someone enjoying this fic :)

Thanks as always to thehazeofdusk for the awesome advice in edits :D

Not much to say before this chapter outside of I hope you're having a great day and thanks for reading!

**Chapter 10**

"Why wouldn't I just call someone? Wouldn't it be quicker?" Rogue snorted, listening to Kitty try to explain texting to Laura, who had shown up to the mansion before breakfast had even finished. Trask's involvement in this whole mess with the Sentinels had worried Logan and apparently Fury hadn't had a good enough response when it came to his young clone's safety. Not that Rogue minded. She liked Laura about as well as she liked anyone and it was certainly keeping Kitty off her back about the amount of texting Rogue was suddenly doing (something Kitty had honed in on scary fast).

It wasn't like there was anything else to do...sure, she could read or watch tv or work out, but it was kind of fun getting to keep talking to Remy throughout the day when they each got a chance. Not so fun was Kitty and Jean giving her shit for apparently blushing occasionally when she got a text.

She refused to confirm who it was, but sadly she was pretty sure the puzzle was a pretty easy one to solve: Gambit comes back into town, Rogue suddenly is texting a few times an hour (much more than normal). Rogue is obviously texting with Gambit. Puzzle solved. Gold star (except for the fact that Rogue refused to confirm the answer for them).

By the time Logan, Kurt, and Hank strolled into the meeting room, Laura understood the basics of how texting and switching between keyboards worked, but was still not grasping the logic behind why she wouldn't just call someone-it sounded a lot quicker to her.

Logan patted his clone on the shoulder as he walked past. "It ain't gonna make sense, kid. Just another way to communicate."

"Yeah, a _better _way," Kitty said to Laura.

"I believe everyone is here?" The Professor said, checking around the room. Along with Laura, the only other person added into the mix was Bobby, who was starting to get pulled up to the Senior team more often. Not often enough to consistently train with them, but generally whenever they needed an extra person.

"Yes, good." He cleared his throat. "It seems neither Magneto nor his team have used their powers all day. Not surprising-he knows we'd use Cerebro to keep track and try to predict their movements and plan."

"What're our options then, Chuck?"

"Well, we could proceed to go after the Sentinels on our own. Beat them to it. More likely we will have to keep our ear to the ground and be on damage control. We have no idea what Magneto is planning and he has a head start."

"Or," Hank cut in. "We go down the S.H.I.E.L.D route." He paused at Logan's glare in his direction. "Not directly ask for help, just information, Logan."

"We could go on a guard watch and station ourselves in teams in locations we think they'd strike," Jean offered. "You said you had talked to him, Professor. Do you have a guess where that could be?"

"Yes, although the locations are still too numerous for us to cover even if we were to bring in the New Recruits and far too populated and spread out to send teams too small to defend the area until help could arrive."

"As far as we can tell, Magneto wants to draw the Sentinels out into the open, much like our first fight with the Acolytes, and use the pressure of putting innocent civilians in danger to get S.H.I.E.L.D. to swoop in, capturing Trask and stopping him from any continued production of these new Sentinels for the time being," Hank said.

Logan scoffed, mumbling sarcastically. "Yeah, cause S.H.I.E.L.D. has a habit of _fixing _messes."

"What about Trask's backer? If I had the security clearance, I'm sure I could hack into Trask's system and trace to who it is. If we get the backer, he won't have the funds to continue making Sentinels in the first place," Kitty asked.

"A good plan, but one that would require either government clearance, or S.H.I.E.L.D. and you know our decision on that, Kathryn," Hank answered seriously.

"It doesn't _have_ to," Kitty began arguing.

"It does if you want any approval from us or your parents, Kitty, and as you're still a minor with a large target on your back from your last hacking experience, you will be getting no approval unless we have no other option," The Professor answered calmly. "For now, as Hank said the best we can do is choose if we wish to proceed defensively or on the offence, as well as to continue guessing what Magneto and his team might be up to."

Noone had much to say in response to that outside of a little mumbling from Scott's direction. Rogue hadn't heard any of it but Jean apparently had and was not a fan: she swatted at Scott's arm just as Logan whipped his head around.

"Care to repeat that, Shades?"

"I _said_ you could just ask Rogue since she's apparently been texting Gambit all day."

Jean threw her hands up in exasperation at her boyfriend. "I'm _never_ telling you anything again!"

"And _I'm_ never telling _you_ anything again!" Kitty said, glaring at Jean.

"Care to comment, Stripes?"

She knew all eyes were on her, a few sympathetic, a few curious more than anything else, but the rest either surprised and outraged or just outraged.

"...Not really?" That answer didn't suffice for any of them if their reactions were anything to go off of, but she couldn't help but feel it was really none of their business.

"Not really, as in you haven't been texting him all day? Or not really as in you don't care to let your team in on the fact that you're friends with our enemy- _specifically_, the _guy who kidnapped you_," Scott spat out, each word colder than the last.

Rogue pursed her lips, feeling more trapped than she had in a long time. She might have had sympathetic looks from Jean and Kitty, but outside of that and mostly neutral expressions from Hank and Ororo, that was all the trust she was going to get it seemed.

Scott and Logan's expressions could have curdled dairy they were so enraged. Logan especially seemed pissed off since Scott had apparently been stewing over this while Logan was just now finding out. Laura didn't seem to care much one way or another, but when in doubt she usually ended up siding with Logan. None of it hit her gut and made her want to run like the abject horror on Kurt's face, although that just served to piss her off as much as it made her feel small. She didn't know where to look, but the silence as they all stared at her was so deafening she felt like her head was about to explode. How was it her friendship with Remy created this much tension?

She looked up at the Professor, hoping he would know what to say. That he would give his usual spiel about giving second chances and extending help and friendship to those who need it. She was met with a carefully blank expression, his fingers steepled in front of his face thoughtfully.

"Rogue, we're simply concerned for your safety," the Professor finally said, incredibly far off from what she'd hoped to hear. It sure didn't _feel _like concern for her safety.. It definitely felt like none of them trusted her in the slightest.

"We do trust you, Rogue," Jean cut in, apparently unaware she'd just read her mind. "These guys just need to lower their testosterone and calm down."

"But Rogue, he _kidnapped_ you. Do you know how worried we all were? What if he had not given you back?" She knew Kurt's concern came from his heart more than it did suspicion over Remy, but it still stung a little that he apparently didn't trust her judgement at all either.

"He - "

"None of that bull about him not kidnapping you, Rogue. Say it all you want but it's not gonna make it true," Scott said, rising to his feet as he glared at Rogue.

"Yeah, cause believing me is an impossible task when you can just sit there and judge people instead, Scott, right?" He looked like he'd been slapped, but she couldn't stop her mouth now that words were flowing. "Y'all need to stop with this, seriously! I wouldn't even be an X men if _someone_," she glared even harder at Scott. "Hadn't decided it was fine to be friends with someone on a different team." She hadn't meant to raise her voice, but here she was. "He didn't 'give me back', I _chose _to come back. And it ain't any of y'all's business what we talk about because we made a deal to keep business out of it. Your _secrets _are safe with me," she finished. She hated seeing the hurt look on Kurt's face at the slightly bitter tone she finished on, but this was ridiculous. Did they really think that little of her? That she would trust someone blindly with no reason why and give up team secrets at the drop of a hat?

"Rogue, you are more important to us than any secret, you know this," Kurt answered back, looking like a puppy she'd just kicked.

"Coulda fooled me!"

"You don't seem to have a problem with my friendship with Pete," Kitty cut in, glaring at Scott, hands on her hips.

"That's different. Pete is -"

" - a guy who deserves a second chance just like everyone else? Including Gambit?" Jean cut in, crossing her eyes as she also stared her boyfriend down.

"He blew his second chance kidnapping Rogue. That's not my fault," Scott shot back stubbornly.

"He didn't-"

"Shades is right, Rogue. You're playing with f -"

"_Rogue_ is right," Ororo said, cutting Logan off. "This is no one's business but her own. She is a smart girl. Trained by the best," and while somehow managing to narrow her eyes at Logan and Scott simultaneously. "She knows what information should remain private and knows how to keep it private." She looked towards Rogue, expression warm. "Most importantly, Rogue has shown that she has become an excellent judge of character and she knows how to keep our team business separate from her friendships."

"Yeah, but can you actually do it? You two looked pretty cozy in the Danger Room…" Scott cut in, apparently not ready to let this go even after Storm intercepted.

Kitty's eyes lit up and Rogue could already tell she was in for trouble later-Kitty definitely had not heard much about her Danger Room team up with Remy. "Look I'm only gonna say this once and you guys are either gonna have to trust me or deal with it however you need to. Gambit didn't kidnap me. I came back by choice. We keep our friendship separate from team stuff. You were able to be friends with Paul without tellin' him X Men secrets just fine, Scott. I can do the same with my friendships. If I end up bein' wrong, you can say I told you so _then_. Give me detention or probation however long you want. I don't care. But I haven't done anythin' wrong here outside of tryin' to have a friend."

The room went quiet until Kurt broke the silence, quietly. "_Es tut mir Leid_, Rogue. Of course I trust you. I just worry. We all do. We just do not want you to be hurt by someone with...bad intentions."

From the back of his room, Hank cleared his throat, trying to bring about some semblance of normal. "Right then. Shall we...continue on with the meeting?" He looked to the Professor, to Scott, and finally to Rogue who crossed her arms and refused to meet anyone's eyes. She knew it was childish, but how stupid did they think she was?

...or were they right and she was actually really just being stupid?

* * *

"I didn't mean to read your mind."

They were on their way out of the meeting room to grab dinner while the adults decided if they should strike now or wait. Kitty had taken off in the front of the group with Scott and Kurt while Jean had hung back with Rogue.

She nodded in response, not really sure she had much else to say. She knew how easy accidents were with powers, but still it sucked all the same to have her private thoughts broadcasted especially when she'd been basically on trial for having a friend her team didn't like enough. She knew it was more complicated than that. She knew their judgements had merit, but if she (the person Remy had wronged the most of all of them) could see past them enough to try for a friendship, why couldn't they trust her to follow her gut?

"They will."

Rogue looked over at Jean, pinching her mouth together tightly as the older girl winced and stopped walking, putting a hand to her head and looking quite frustrated herself. Jean sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to...I know that doesn't mean much though. I should probably be getting more sleep."

Rogue looked at the older girl for a moment. It had taken a long time for either girl to be vulnerable at all in front of the other. They'd had such huge perceptions of each other that had taken so long to reconcile with the person actually in front of them. As perfect as she'd always thought Jean was, she knew Jean was human just like anyone else (so to speak), someone who strived to reach the level of perfection everyone thought came naturally to her.

Just as Rogue never meant for the psyches to overtake her, Jean never meant for her powers to catch other's thoughts. Rogue was just lucky (she'd laughed dryly upon realizing she was calling herself lucky when she'd first realized) she could stop the psyches from taking over by not using her powers. Jean didn't have that convenience. She had better control of her powers, sure, but there was no off button.

"It's fine." She paused and softened her tone, realizing she could do to reassure the older girl a little more. "Really."

Jean smiled at her brightly, one word apparently making all the difference. "Come on, let's go get dinner before Kurt beats us -"

All talk of dinner was gone when an alarm went off blaring loudly as red lights rotated above them, the Professor's voice echoing through their brains. "_Senior Team members, including Iceman, make your way to the hanger bay. Wheels up in 10."_

They turned around, headed back towards the hanger bay and Rogue did her best to let on a small smile in Jean's direction as they ran, glad this mess might be over quickly. "Guess we're gonna have to wait on food."

* * *

"Hank and I'll be here at the jet keeping an eye out. Team Alpha. Storm'll take to the air and Hank'll run out if any trouble starts."

They'd made it downtown in record time, Logan grumbling and rumbling different battle strategies until he landed on one he liked.

"Jean, you head off with Cyclops. Team Beta. You get on any Sentinels you can find and run interference on any Acolytes."

Please don't say it.

"Nightcrawler,"

Please don't say it.

"You're with Shadowcat. Team Charlie. Civilian rescue and be on Sentinels when you can."

Damn it.

"Rogue, you're with Iceman. Team Delta."

Yep.

"Sentinels." Bobby cheered. " And keep an eye on the popsicle, would ya?" She nodded. There was a muted "hey!" from Bobby as she grabbed his shoulder, dragging him off the plane with her.

She didn't so much mind being partnered with Bobby as she did getting stuck in any of the messes Bobby made. She was used to working with someone more laid back for sure, if her past partnership with Evan had been any indication. But Evan had known when to be serious at least. Bobby, for all his strengths, took nothing seriously. More often than not, it made for a messy situation his partner usually had to get them out of. Namely, her.

He seemed to be trying to prove himself enough that he wasn't putting on his normal cocky attitude at least. He iced up and held up his arms, indicating Rogue should grab his waist. She sighed and did so, trying to keep as much space between them as possible. They hadn't figured out yet if his psyche or powers would transfer through his ice form and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out, really. Something about a mini Bobby in her head was enough to give her a headache, no absorption necessary.

He meant well, she knew. But it was sometimes hard to remember when he continually stuck his foot up his own ass over and over. The kid had so much tenacity he gave Kurt a run for his money even on his best day.

Like Kurt, he just had too much energy to know what to do with it sometimes. Unlike Kurt though, he hid his heart of gold underneath all his crazy schemes and his cocky demeanor.

She hung on tightly as he began moving, wondering how much closer she could deem safe to hold on to him the higher they got into the air.

"See anythin'?"

"Not yet."

A silence fell over them as she strained her eyes to look around for any sign of the Sentinels or Acolytes but found none. This felt like the first time they'd met the Acolytes...showing up somewhere with no sign of any danger until it was far too late.

"Hey, uh, Rogue," she could hear Bobby's voice past the wind whipping around them, although very distantly. It almost sounded like it flew past her on the wind.

She didn't answer, just chose to keep looking around, straining her eyes and ears to listen for any explosions or see any fire. He was going to talk whether she answered or not: it was part of the beauty of Bobby.

"...I was kinda an ass yesterday."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath in. "Kitty put you up to this?"

"No. Well, yeah. But no. But also yeah," she rolled her eyes but didn't respond, smiling slightly since he couldn't see. He was an idiot, but he was trying not to be at least. And it wasn't like he'd been wrong. "I felt bad - you don't need it shoved in your face you can't date. Kitty just...encouraged me to let you know I know that. And that I'm sorry." He paused awkwardly and were he not creating a path of ice, she had a feeling he would be scratching the back of his head. "And I am. Sorry, that is."

"I get it, Bobby."

"So...we're cool?"

"Yeah, Bobby. It's fine."

"Alright!" Gone was the awkward sweet guy she'd just decided wasn't actually so bad, replaced again by the hyper popsicle. Not the worst thing in the world, she guessed. Definitely better than having _no _partner at least.

"Wait, you see that?"

"Huh?" Bobby pulled them to a stop, straining to see where she was pointing, right in the center of the city.

"There!"

"Aw, yeah! Time for some fire to meet ice!" Bobby cheered, taking off at breakneck speed towards the giant column of fire now shooting towards the sky she'd just been pointing at..

"Wait! Bobby! We should -"

Whatever she was trying to say to him was immediately lost to the wind and she couldn't stop herself from gripping his hips as tight as possible.

This was a bad idea. They had no idea if they were about to be out-numbered. Logan had no clue they were about to run headfirst into battle. Her only back up (until she could get to her communicator - if it was even safe enough to go for her communicator) was Bobby, who was so eager to jump into battle he'd run at it head first at the first sign of a fight.

It didn't take them long to find solid ground and Rogue had approximately three seconds to look around before a wall of fire flew right past them.

"Oi! You come to join the fun then?" John seemed to find this whole situation funny, even if no one else did. He cackled, manipulating his fire around in the air and sending it straight for a Sentinel a block away.

She heard a crack behind her and turned just in time to see a large boulder headed her way. She ducked just as she felt something collide with her from her side. Luckily for her, whatever it was didn't feel like a boulder at least.

She groaned and sat up despite the weight still over her abdomen. She opened her eyes, only shocked that she was surprised to see Gambit there. He groaned as well, slowly getting up, and turned towards her, a grin on his face. Of course he was grinning. In front of them lay a giant slab of concrete, smashed from it's impact.

"Ready for Sentinels, round two, _chère_?"

She snorted and stood as well, looking around as much as possible to figure out exactly what Bobby had thrown them into. "Sure, I'm super pumped."

"Heads up!" They dove to separate sides as Bobby came barrelling through, yahooing as he shot himself straight for the Sentinel Pyro was currently flame-blasting.

She stood, readying herself to grab her communicator and do...something. She looked around, trying to find something, anything, to help her out. It wasn't fair to count on Remy for any assistance here, even though he'd already saved her.

...However, Bobby had stuck her here and taken off with Pyro to tag team the Sentinel, apparently having the time of his life if his occasional whoops were any indication. If Bobby could fight side by side with Pyro, she didn't see why her teaming up with Gambit would be a bad plan, different teams or not. Luckily, there wasn't really anyone around to judge them for the time being.

She turned just in time to see a second Sentinel, much closer. The one who had thrown the boulder, probably. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Gambit's back was still to the Sentinel.

"Watch your six!" She hollered just in time for both of them to dive out of the way of a blast. They both stood again, watching carefully as the Sentinel advanced towards them, another blast preparing to shoot. Wordlessly, he extended his bo-staff out to her. She took it without hesitation, feeling bad he was having to save her ass again. She was useless in the field if she didn't use her powers, but she was useless in regular life if she did-her powers took over everything. She couldn't win.

He fanned out his cards and looked at her, still grinning. "Ladies first."

She looked towards the Sentinel, determined. "If you insist," she said, already running towards the Sentinel, jamming his staff into the first joint she could find, hoping their previous strategy would still work. They were in luck and she managed to pry the joint apart and roll out of the way so he could aim a card and they began their system over again, picking up right where they'd left off the other day, stopping occasionally to dodge blasts the Sentinel sent their way. Just as they finally had both legs blown off (as well as a hand), the Sentinel began beeping, a blue light flashing with each sound, and almost immediately they heard the loud stomping of another Sentinel coming their way, followed by the shouts of what sounded like Jean and Cyclops.

"What the hell? Did it just…"

"There's no way they're that advanced. Nothin' 'bout it in the plans," Gambit yelled from across the street, answering her with a similar amount of surprise in his tone.

A new Sentinel came crashing through the building directly behind Rogue and she rolled out of the way as quick as possible, trying to avoid any of the falling debris. It was indeed followed by Jean and Cyclops, the latter with a giant frown on his face when he saw who Rogue was currently teamed up with. Great.

Luckily, if he had something to say, he had neither the time nor the balls to let it out right now. Or the sense to understand now wasn't the time. "Where's Iceman?"

"There's a third Sentinel down a block. He's over there with Pyro!" Rogue answered, trying to quickly size up how much damage Jean and Scott had been able to do to their Sentinel. Not much yet, unfortunately.

"He took off and _left _you?" Scott asked, incredulous.

"Why y' think I stayed over here instead of -" Remy never got to finish his sentence as he took a solid hit to his gut from flying debris.

"We'll deal with Bobby's lack of teamwork later!" Rogue yelled as the new Sentinel swung at both Jean and herself, grateful to see Remy pick himself up with little to no grimace.

Rogue immediately launched herself at the Sentinel in front of her, dislodging it at the elbow. "Jean! Rip it!" she hollered, rolling away. It took Jean a second longer than Rogue would have liked, but she got the idea, using her telekinesis to pull apart the wires holding the arm together, thick and strong like tendons.

From across the street, she heard the sound of explosions and Scott's power. Both guys were throwing as much firepower at the Sentinel as they could, but it wasn't getting them anywhere. Rogue looked around her, trying to find some solution to help both teams before her and Jean's Sentinel was back on the attack and spied a long pipe. Perfect.

"Gambit! Catch!" She watched long enough to see him grab his bo staff out of the air after she'd chucked it across the street at him before she dove for the pipe, pulling it out of a pile of debris and running towards her Sentinel at top speed to give Jean something to work with. Distantly, she heard Remy shouting directions and hoped Scott would just suck it up and listen for once.

"Are you sure this will work?" She heard Jean yell over the sound of tearing metal.

"Not really, but it's all we've got!" she hollered back as she climbed up the Sentinels limp arm and jammed her pipe into its neck. She hadn't tried that joint before, but she was hoping it might do enough damage to incapacitate the thing. She used as much leverage as she could, trying to pull something, anything apart, only to find this hadn't been her brightest idea. She looked over at Jean, hoping she would be on the same page, but Jean was too focused on another joint, trying to take it apart on her own.

Fuck. The Sentinel began moving it's head towards her and she looked around herself quickly, trying to find the best place to jump to before she heard Remy's voice repeating her earlier sentiment, "Catch!"

She turned, luckily timing it right to grab his staff just as it flew back towards her and she jammed it into the neck, determination starting her anew. His staff was much stronger than the pipe and it only took a few seconds for her to create enough damage the Sentinel began fritzing out. She jumped from its shoulder just in time to avoid an electric shock, softening the impact of her fall with a roll as best as possible.

She looked over and saw Scott and Gambit had completely dismantled their Sentinel and were now running across the street to join them. Rogue almost wanted to laugh. For all their bickering and apparent dislike of one another, apparently Remy and Scott were actually a good team when they had to be.

Remy and Scott had just enough time to get across the street before the still functioning Sentinel released a high pitched, ear shattering shrieking sound and before immediately collapsing. Just as it crashed to the ground, the sound stopped. Rogue stood, dusting herself off, and looked around. Wordlessly, the four mutants looked between each other, no one having any guesses what had just happened.

"_Yo, you guys! You gotta see this! The Sentinel just dropped!" _Came Bobby's voice over the radio.

"_Our's too! And the one Pete was taking on down the block!"_ Kitty answered quickly.

Logan's voice crackled over the radio next. "_Get back to the Velocity. We'll debrief when we get home."_

Rogue looked at Jean and Scott, disbelieving. "What, that's it?"

Jean looked just as stumped but she simply shrugged, levitating herself up in preparation to head towards the plane. "He must have a good reason. We'll send Bobby your way when we pass over him and meet you guys at the plane."

She levitated herself and Scott up and they were off, simple as that, leaving Rogue alone with Remy. Rogue brushed her hair back from her forehead and plopped herself down on a nearby stoop, taking a deep breath and watching the Sentinel carefully.

"That was too easy."

Remy sat himself beside her, leaning his elbows forward on his knees as he turned to her and simply nodded. She leaned forward on her knees as well, content to just sit in the quiet with him for a moment as she waited for Bobby. It was nice, almost, if you didn't take into account the smoking Sentinel yards away and all the chaos around them from the battle they'd just fought.

Remy watched her for a moment carefully, something she tried to ignore to the best of her ability. Out of the corner of her eye he had that look on his face like he was trying to figure something out. He didn't say anything, just reached across her face slowly. She watched his hand as it swept her bangs out of her face and behind her ear before turning herself towards him as his hand dropped back down to his leg.

"Good day at school?" he asked, grinning.

She rolled her eyes, fighting the growing smile on her own face and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Got called out for a work emergency."

"Aw, that's too bad."

"Yeah, apparently my French teacher'll have to wait another day to see my homework."

He chuckled, looking down at the ground quickly before looking right back at her again, smile still firmly in place and humor laced throughout his tone. "The horror. Least y' got outta school, I guess."

"I missed half of last year. Can't really afford to miss much this year or Principal Kelly'll flunk me again," she said dryly. She continued on, not really wanting to have to address the fact that he was directly responsible for her missing several of her midterms. It was water under the bridge, but she couldn't help but think he might not see it that way. She sent a small smile his way before speaking again. "Good day at work?"

His grin grew wider and he shifted, resting his cheek on his fist. "So-so. Boss was on a rampage. Spent all day in meetin's listenin' t' him drone on and on. Y'know. The usual. Got stuck pullin' overtime too."

For some reason, that made them both laugh. Real laughs; full and comfortable. As bizarre as the situation was, it felt so completely normal and typical sitting there with him next to the smoking remains of a Sentinel on a city block they'd just help tear apart.

"You weren't supposed to stay this end of the block to fight." She didn't phrase it as a question in hopes it didn't push anything he couldn't or wouldn't want to talk about, but it had been bugging her since he'd yelled back at Scott concerning the Bobby mess. He didn't respond, just watched her carefully. "Not tryin' to pry. Just...thank you, is all." She looked down towards her hands as she spoke, hair falling forward into her eyes again, the words feeling unfamiliar.

She'd been so caught up wondering if she'd broken their careful balance she didn't see his hand reach out again, re-tucking her hair behind her ear, using her hair to skim his fingers along her jaw as he directed her to meet his eyes, intense yet warm. He left his fingers on her jawline a few seconds longer than he probably needed to, but she was comforted to see he was trying to be careful.

"Wasn't about t' let y' have _all _the fun over here."

She grinned back at him, wondering how it was he had just erased every bit of self consciousness she'd been feeling. "B'sides. Fighting with Pyro's a job hazard I'll find an excuse to avoid any day." She laughed at that, feeling for once like maybe avoiding using her powers hadn't made her a liability in battle or a weakling to be babysat.

She felt his thumb lightly stroke her cheek through his hair and for a very short moment, she felt content to just laugh with him among the smoldering piles of destruction while she waited for -

"Thank you for riding Bobby's Ice-Coaster, your journey has come to a close. Please keep all hands and legs inside the vehicle as you exit and make sure to not wipe out and fall on your ass."

There he was.

Rogue looked up, seeing Pyro let go of Bobby's waist and jump down to solid ground, looking a little worse for the wear, like he might hurl at any second. As Pyro finished dismounting, Rogue stood, taking that as her cue to hop on, gingerly putting her hands on Bobby's waist only to remember -

"Oh. Your staff," she turned back to Gambit, seeing both of them had apparently almost forgotten she still had it. She held it out (feeling more than a little awkward in front of Pyro and Bobby) and Remy stood to take it from her, the very picture of nonchalance. Bobby began a second speal about take off and once they were off and no one could see, Rogue allowed herself to smile again.

The calm only lasted only a few seconds. From down below, John was shrieking. "Hold up! You _never _let _me_ use your staff! How come _Rogue _gets to?"

* * *

"So S.H.I.E.L.D. actually came through," Scott said dryly, leaning back against the plane's side.

Logan scoffed. "For now. They said they got Trask, but I've never known them to be able to keep their word too long."

"He hasn't said anything helpful?" Jean asked.

"Not yet, but he'll talk. There's a huge money trail behind the Sentinel upgrades. Only a matter of time before we find out who's backin' him, and then we'll know how to stop them from makin' more."

"They did take those ones in with Trask though, right?" Kitty asked.

Logan grunted in affirmative.

Kitty shuddered. "Good. I do _not _want to think about them being left on the streets for anyone to play with."

"You and me both, Half Pint."

Rogue leaned back in her seat, beat. Logan didn't sound so sure this was over, an opinion she leaned towards mostly because he'd rarely been wrong before in these kind of situations.

Kurt sat down next to her as Logan and Scott prepared to get the plane in the air. He looked exhausted as well. "Man, I hope not. I don't want to even see another Sentinel unless it's already blown to smithereens."

Rogue nodded in agreement absently. Somehow she didn't think they'd get that lucky, but maybe for once she could use a little of her brother's optimism.

Well. She could attempt to at least. Except...

"How did Trask know about the PowR-8 factory?" Rogue looked across the plane at Logan.

"Could be related, could've gotten lucky. That's one of the leads we'll start tracking. Company's not up and running yet, but they could be the money source or at least related to it."

Rogue nodded, not feeling comforted by that answer at all. Something felt off and the Sentinels all being remotely deactivated once Trask was taken in felt incredibly convenient, even knowing he'd given S.H.I.E.L.D. the codes to shut them down once they caught him.

Kurt's hand lightly touched her shoulder. "Hey, we will be okay. We are the X Men."

She smiled at him absently, glad she hadn't pushed him away all over again during their meeting earlier. He put up with a lot when she got pissed. Everyone here did really. Whether Remy was right about Scott's behavior or not, with the X men she had something she hadn't ever had before: a family. Maybe a weird family, maybe an overprotective family, but a family that (at the core of most things) just cared about her.

It just sucked that in that overprotectiveness they were actually doing exactly what she'd thought they had initially done to her: judging and not even giving Remy a chance to prove he could be different, at least with her. It sucked even more because Scott had faith in her back then and stood up for her back then-he was the reason she'd figured everything out and been able to switch teams so quickly, but he apparently refused to do the same for Gambit.

Scott refused to see the similarities and although she wasn't extending her faith and trust in the hopes Remy would ever join the X Men (she wasn't sure she could picture him settling down somewhere long enough to do that), she was frustrated no one else could see that there was more to Remy than met the eye (more than she felt she could learn in a lifetime) and she had a sinking feeling in her gut that right now he needed a friend. Needed support. Something had to have happened when he'd been away, she just had no clue what and wasn't sure she ever would unless she had to use her powers on him.

He was still himself, or what she knew of him previously, but he had those moments of staring off into space or pulling back a little when he used to push forward. Sometimes she would look at him and he would just seem so exhausted in a different way than when he'd sounded tired during the Danger Room fight. Exhausted like he was bone tired from running and trying to keep moving forward. Exhausted like even if she actually knew what he needed (or was running _from_), she wasn't sure she could actually help him if he'd even let her.

* * *

She was late.

Remy checked his phone absently to see if he had any texts waiting, not surprised when he found none. It had been a week of him showing up at Bayville High every day after the school day ended and she still somehow seemed surprised every day, like she'd been unsure he would be there again. He couldn't blame her, really.

He'd been in her head-he was sure she knew he never stuck around anywhere too long unless he had to (and he did, due to his contract with Magneto, although she didn't technically know that). He hadn't come through for her any of the times he'd had a chance (although outside of never answering her about Apocalypse and kidnapping her, he was pretty sure she didn't know he'd been on the team to save her in Tibet) despite her willingness to let him try to make it up to her. Beyond that, what had he really done to prove she could trust him in the first place?

He idly checked his clock and sent her a quick text, just in case. If she was held up by a teacher, at least she could use her ride as an excuse. Probably not the case though. Usually when she was this late, she'd gotten held back for detention-meaning her phone had been taken so she couldn't check for his message. He had time for a smoke, at least. He grabbed a cigarette, lighting it with his finger as he leaned back against his bike casually, ignoring the tittering of girls he heard off to his side where he knew some sort of sports team was practicing.

He scoffed, hoping they would stay where they were, surprising himself somewhat. He'd never been one to turn away a pretty face, even if they were as tedious as he'd found those girls. He usually had at least some energy to flirt back or have a standard interaction with them, but lately wasn't usually. Last week one girl had gotten brave enough to try to tell him he couldn't smoke here and had then proceeded to try to flirt with him unsuccessfully but, ladies man though he was, he'd just been instantly bored with her. Luckily, Rogue had just been running late that day and he'd been able to stop the conversation short by calling her over as soon as she exited the school. He'd made sure to smile a little wider in Rogue's direction (although, when he thought about it, he hadn't had to try too hard) to send the message to the intruding girl (Karen? Carly?): she wasn't even on his radar.

Rogue certainly hadn't expected him to be there that day and had looked up in shock hearing her name called out. It had only been the second day he'd picked her up, to be fair, and he'd never told her he wanted to pick her up in the first place, let alone that he was planning on doing it more than once. Or every day. He'd just figured she wouldn't mind a ride back from school and had started showing up the day after the Sentinel battle in town (if she did mind, she hadn't said anything). Still she'd found him quickly, and although surprise had shown on her face, she'd walked over and taken his spare helmet like they'd done this more than once before and hopped up behind him on his bike and before he knew it the other girl was just gone. He wasn't completely sure when she'd left: he'd been a little too distracted by Rogue's casual ribbing and teasing her back.

Ego boost though it was to have girls fawn over him, he found it didn't really give him the same rush lately. Not like it used to. He wondered if it ever would again, but found he honestly didn't care what the answer was anymore. Too much on his mind, too much that had happened lately, too much of his brain focused on getting to hang out with Rogue for a few normal minutes before they had to part ways, too much of him focusing on finding a sense of normalcy as often as possible...in truth it was probably some combination of all of the above.

As much as trying to find some sense of normal (for his own sanity, at least until he could finally catch his breath before leaping back into danger headfirst) had become a driving force in his life, Rogue had become a part of that normal and it was a normal he liked. He used to think normal would bore him, but when normal included Rogue it was the exact opposite. He was starting to think anything that included Rogue could never bore him, which he was okay with.

He'd known before coming back he'd wanted to make things right with her and hoped she would let him try. Remy was honestly still a little surprised she'd agreed. She might not have much experience making friends, but he had equally as little experience managing to follow through on good intentions. To be honest, he didn't have much experience keeping friends either. This was just as new to him even if she didn't seem to realize it. He hadn't realized how good it would actually feel to have a friend; someone to just joke around with and not have to talk about work or drama or any of the shit he wanted to avoid. She let him and in turn he let her. It worked.

She was a comfort, almost like a taste of the home he didn't have or the warmth of people he missed combined with something new and interesting and uniquely her. She'd always intrigued him in a detached sort of way even before he'd met her in person, but (as he'd found in New Orleans) she was different than everyone else; a puzzle he wanted to appreciate after he solved it instead of just taking it apart and throwing it back in the box. Maybe a puzzle he was willing to _keep _solving.

"Able to", he couldn't guarantee. But "willing to" and "wanting to" he was pretty sure he knew which direction he leaned.

The more she said (the more they interacted), the more he found new things about her he wanted to learn. Even simpler, the more they hung out the more he just wanted her to be there. It was weird. Almost everyone else in his life had immediately been the opposite of her with a rapid decay rate on his interest in them. Rogue just became exponentially more integral to what he wanted in his life. It didn't make sense, yet at the same time it did even if he couldn't explain why.

He finally had a chance again to choose what he wanted and he was becoming more and more surprised (while at the same time not that surprised really) that friendship with the girl he'd spied on, reported on to his boss, kidnapped, and let down multiple times was genuinely the choice he wanted. A friendship not tainted by guild rules or truces, a friendship that wasn't conditional upon what he could do for the other person. A person he didn't have to constantly be on his guard about analyzing. Just...a person he actually liked being around who he knew liked being around him too. A person who could not only keep up but set the pace sometimes when he couldn't. For the first time in a long time, something was coming to him easy for once. Relatively easy, at least.

"Y'ain't gotten tired of waiting around at a high school after hours, yet?"

He turned and grinned after exhaling smoke through the side of his mouth, throwing the bud down to stomp out as he grabbed his spare helmet. The routine was comfortable for both of them. Routine had always been something he would have thought would bore him. With Rogue, though, not much seemed to.

"How else'm I gonna see y' now that we're proper enemies again?"

She rolled her eyes and he could see her trying to fight a smile. Times like this, when she couldn't resist smiling anyway, were starting to become his favorite. "We've been texting all day, Swamp Rat."

Maybe he was coming on a little too strong, but at this point he wasn't sure he knew what normal really was or if he could be it if he tried. He just knew she felt normal (made _him _feel normal), like a homebase where he could actually ignore some of what he was trying to. Besides, she hadn't actually told him to stop, something he knew she would if she really wanted it. He didn't like the idea of pushing her far enough for her to put her foot down in the quest of understanding her boundaries, but he knew if push really came to shove she would tell him if he'd fucked up.

"Textin' doesn't hold a candle t' watchin' y' roll y' eyes at me in person, chere." True enough.

She glared at him and he laughed, knowing if she rolled her eyes she was about to prove him right.

"What they get y' f' t'day, _ma chère_?"

She wrinkled her nose as she continued to walk up to his bike, making him smile again. Did she know that when she wrinkled her nose like that it made her freckles stand out, even under her makeup? Did anyone but him know? "Apparently the outfit I've worn to school for the past four and a half years doesn't meet dress code."

He couldn't have stopped himself if he'd tried to not give her a quick look over. Her tights and boots helped keep her clothing mostly modest and hell if he had to stay covered up all the time he'd go crazy so he got the rest of the ensemble. But her outfits certainly left little to the imagination when you really looked. Gothic with a side of "grew up running around barefoot catching fireflies in the summer and staying covered up all the time drives me crazy". That part he didn't mind. Not at all. The gothic vibe worked for her and it definitely worked for him. Friend or not, it was only natural to appreciate how her skirt accentuated her hips (he wondered if he should let her know how great her ass looked when she bent over, something he'd been distracted by several times lately, or if that would make her never bend over in his presence again), which then drew attention to her slim waist, bare except for her mesh shirt. And _then_ there was the tank she wore underneath-showing off just enough cleavage and midriff to make anyone's mind wander, which he _definitely_ didn't mind.

"Would you stop lookin', Cajun?!" She thwacked him good on his shoulder as he found himself laughing again, hands up in defense.

"Cain't blame a man for appreciatin', _chèrie_."

"Whatever. It's bad enough I had those creepers in detention commentin'."

Okay, that part he did kind of mind.

He pushed that thought away and chuckled, reaching over to brush her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear. She'd almost stopped flinching when she saw his hand coming towards his face, something that would seem so small with anyone else, but with her he knew was gigantic.

"Wanna go kick their asses?" he joked, gratified to see her finally crack an almost full smile, eye roll and all as she finally grabbed his spare helmet.

"Yeah, that'll get me _out _of detention," she said, reminding him slightly of a grumpy kitten as she secured the helmet and made sure both straps of her backpack were around her shoulders. He wasn't sure she knew how her full lips became even fuller when she pouted like that.

He shrugged and turned, revving the engine and relishing the feel of her sliding in behind him. The first day he could tell she'd been so nervous to be that close to him. He'd almost (almost) offered to let her drive, although he wasn't quite sure him holding onto her tightly would have been any better for her. She'd covered well, though, and he hadn't been about to call her out on it just to be a dick.

Honestly he wasn't sure when he'd gotten to know her so well he could read moments like that so easily. He'd definitely started the process before New Orleans, but when exactly he couldn't be sure.

She settled her hands on his hips only making a small sound of protest when he rolled his eyes and pulled her arms tighter around his midsection, pulling her chest closer to his back and her thighs right under his. She always ended up like that anyway, so what was the harm? So sue him for wanting to enjoy the sensation a little longer today.

He felt her head rest against his shoulder as she gripped him a little tighter, hand sliding up the middle of his chest carefully. Not nearly as fit to his body as she would be by the end of the ride, but close enough. He grinned again, knowing she couldn't see, and revved his engine one more time before taking off maybe a little faster than necessary, smiling again when he felt her mold tighter against him in the process.

* * *

By the time they reached the Institute gates, Rogue was pushed just as tightly against his body as every other day he'd dropped her off. It was great. He kicked his foot out to hold the bike steady as he stopped and turned back to look at her before she could start getting off the bike.

She looked up at him, grey eyes meeting his own, waiting as if she expected him to speak. He had all the other days at that point but today he stopped himself, settling on just taking a second to smile down at her and find the flecks of green in her eyes that came out in the sunshine before turning to look at the mansion, never actually letting himself ask what he wanted.

He'd asked to hang out the past two days this week and, especially with no explanation outside of "I want to," he was wary of asking again without making things weird or pushing himself 100% into the "coming on too strong with this friendship thing" category.

It was just that it was so nice to not feel like he had to watch his back, to be able to sit with someone and not feel like he needed to fill the silence with empty words, especially on days like today where he felt more stuck in his head than moving through the world. Days where he couldn't stop thinking and needed the time to do so, but also needed the opportunity to ignore all his thinking. Above all that, he liked that he was able to have those things with _her _and that he wasn't the only one of them who needed that. As much as she brought him a sense of normality, he knew he brought something positive to the table for her as well (otherwise she wouldn't still be keeping him around).

She hopped off the bike and walked to the gate keypad, keying in a code and pressing her thumb against the scanner briefly. At least the X Mansion had upped their security a little in the days since he'd been a regular fly on their walls. He watched Rogue carefully, trying to guess what she was wanting. She'd kept her helmet on, so potentially she was ready to get right back on the bike behind him to ride up to the school and hang out. Or she wanted a ride to the building but not to hang out. Or she'd forgotten to give him the helmet back just yet.

_Merde_, LeBeau. He had to stop this overthinking shit. He'd never been very prone to it before, especially with women (although Rogue was a friend, not a girl he was about to hook up with, he reminded himself). Part of him wished he knew if he couldn't stop thinking because this was her, or if it was because his life had so recently been a gigantic shit storm he was still watching for over his shoulder. Another part of him (a much bigger part) was way too overdone with all the fucking overanalyzing his brain was doing.

She turned back to him and walked back to the bike, hesitating before looking up at him again through the helmet. "You wanna come in?"

He grinned. "Get on the bike."

Every time she had to hop on his bike a second time in a day, she always pulled herself that much snugger than before. That or he imagined she did. Either way, he liked the feel of her against his back, how her thighs squeezed against him, lean and strong. How it started to feel less like she was holding on for a ride and more like she was holding on to him. How she never tensed when he made a daring turn or sped too fast (he wasn't surprised she seemed to get as much of a thrill out of it as he did). That she kept getting back on the bike, trusting him to keep her safe. How occasionally if they rode around for a bit one arm would hold his waist while the other would slink upwards, her hand positioning somewhere around his lungs and heart.

They skidded to a stop at the Institute's steps and he kicked out his stand, hand already out to grab her helmet once she'd removed it, securing it before dismounting and easily catching up to Rogue, who had already taken a few steps up towards the main doors.

He wasn't sure he'd get used to entering the chaos that was the Xavier Institute. He definitely couldn't imagine doing it every day or calling it home. From the second they walked in, there was always something going on. Today it was something about little Wolverine and Boom Boom. Rogue sighed and looked at him apologetically. "Meet you in the tv room?"

He shrugged, already knowing Rogue was going to go problem solve, and headed that way. She'd never admit it about herself (or agree if he pointed it out) but she was a good leader here, one mostly everyone at the Institute seemed to respect and at least listen to if nothing else. Why they'd chosen Cyke as the leader for the senior team was beyond him, but he was trying to be better about that, if only to keep from fighting with Rogue again. Maybe in time he'd point some of that shit out to her again, but not right now.

He entered the tv room, relieved to see Pete was already there, chatting with Kitty as he painted a landscape of something Remy didn't recognize. At least he wouldn't have to hang out alone while waiting for Rogue. He never minded Pete, and Kitty was starting to grow on him a little.

Kitty looked up from watching Pete work, eyes immediately gleaming. He'd seen the look on her face directed towards Rogue, but never towards himself.

"Where's Rogue?"

"Some fight between little Wolvie and Boom Boom."

"Ugh, yeah. I saw that happening and ran the other way. It's so not Laura's fault she didn't have a normal upbringing. Tabby needs to chill."

Remy pulled out a deck of cards, not necessarily bored, but feeling a need to fidget. "She'll be done quick."

"Yeah, definitely...so...did you give her a ride home again? It's been like...almost a week of you picking her up right? Did she ask you to do that? What did you guys get up to?" Remy raised an eyebrow, looking at Kitty's eager expression as he leaned against a nearby wall. Kitty was about as subtle as a brick when it came to her nosiness into Rogue's friendship with him. He didn't particularly mind, but he figured out it made Rogue more self conscious pretty quickly.

"Ain't solvin' y' mysteries f' y', _p'tite_. Ask her y'self."

Kitty groaned, flopping onto a chair dramatically. "Ugh. Seriously? You're no fun, Remy."

He shrugged, grinning at her dramatics. "Odd, cause I'm havin' a blast right now."

"Yeah, making me _suffer_!"

"Who's makin' Kitty suffer?" Rogue entered the room, asking absently, followed quickly by the little Wolverine. He liked her better than her dad for sure. Or her uncle? At least that's where he assumed she came from. Rogue was incredibly tight lipped on the whole matter and Magneto hadn't given any order to look into the small girl, so Remy didn't really have a reason to.

"Herself," Remy said at the same time as Kitty who answered, "Remy!" before grabbing a nearby remote and beginning to flick through various channels.

Remy looked over at Rogue, eyebrow raised and a grin settled on his face. Rogue didn't look quite impressed, but she also didn't directly comment and simply made her way over to sit on the couch. Casually, he walked towards the couch and jumped over the back of it, landing next to her and earning the laugh he'd been hoping for (try as she might to cover it).

"Do I _wanna _know how you put Kitty in a dramatic tailspin, Swamp Rat?" Rogue said dryly, scooching a little closer to the arm of the couch and a little farther away from him, trying to create space. He fought the urge to frown quickly at the nickname. He didn't hate it. He found it endearing, really, coming from her. A small part of him, though, wondered what it would sound like for her to actually say his name.

He shrugged in response to her question, putting his deck of cards away. Just as she had resituated herself a little further away, trying to keep up the boundaries she kept with everyone else, Remy let his arm hang on the couch behind her, allowing himself to lean just a little closer to her. She didn't pull away and he resituated himself just a little more, so her head was no longer perpendicular with his wrist, but now a little past his elbow by his bicep.

Little Wolverine (Laura?) sat down stiffly in the chair on Rogue's side. "I still don't understand why we sit and watch a screen for entertainment."

Kitty immediately launched into a long tirade about the merits of television, but Remy didn't hear a word of it.

He was too busy trying to keep every perceptible reaction calm as he felt Rogue shift, pulling her feet up to tuck to the side of herself, in the process accidentally letting her shoulder bump his chest. She froze from beside him and he continued watching Laura learn about tv, keeping his face as neutral as possible while trying to show her this wasn't a big deal, as he let his arm drop lower on the couch back so when she finally straightened, his arm rested firmly around her shoulders, hand dangling casually so as to not freak her out more.

He could hear her taking slow breaths, scared and unsure, and let his thumb brush gently against her arm, slowly and carefully tracing patterns here and there, hoping it wasn't too much. Half of him was suddenly very curious what would happen if he pulled her into his side more snugly, but the other half of him knew it was too much for her. He looked down, seeing the blush through her hair even on her scalp, but what he could see of her face didn't look upset or uncomfortable, just figuring out how to react to being so close to someone. He continued stroking his thumb on her shoulder and gradually felt her relax, and found himself feeling perhaps more victorious than he had in a long, long while.

And then he had to ruin their moment of peace and calm when he looked down again to check in on her reaction, and he looked down a little too far

Her shirt really did allow for a great view-her bare shoulders rose and fell delicately with each breath and if he looked closely enough, he could see a patch of freckles starting ever so lightly below her clavicle, travelling down into her shirt. Did they travel all the way down past where fabric covered? And the view the fabric covered-it molded to her breasts perfectly and -

"Your heart rate is going very fast, Rogue." Both Rogue and Remy's heads snapped over to Little Wolvie. "Gambit's too." Fuck. His heart _was_ racing.

They both stayed frozen (although why she was frozen as well he couldn't be sure of outside of this kind of closeness being new for her. And maybe Rogue feeling self conscious that not only was she physically close to him, but it was in front of people. People who were watching them _incredibly _closely at the moment), but he was glad to find Rogue still didn't pull away from him.

_Merde_. This was the very wrong time to be reveling in that.

"Uh, the show's really tense, Laura, that's all," Rogue said, a slight squeak to her voice. He was glad she was able to speak cause he apparently couldn't, that's for damn sure. The image of her breasts up close, moving so gently with each breath, was not an image he should have at the forefront of his mind at that exact moment, yet there it was distracting him.

Laura looked towards the tv and luckily Rogue had picked the right excuse to cover him: it was a horror movie with a woman running around screaming her head off as she tried to escape whatever this movie was about.

"Kitty's heart rate isn't fast. Are you sure you shouldn't see Hank?" Who the hell was this kid? A literal clone of Wolverine? She was more perceptive than he would have liked, even if his racing heart wouldn't have been a secret at all had the real Wolverine been in the room.

"Sometimes I am finding my heart races in scary movies, but sometimes it does not even if I am thinking it should," Pete cut in, talking carefully through a paintbrush between his teeth.

"I'm good, Laura, I promise."

The little girl looked at Rogue carefully and then turned her gaze to Remy, tone flat and calculating. "Are you sure he's not in your personal bubble? Your heart always gets fast when someone does that." He wanted to laugh at the phrasing of 'personal bubble'. Someone had clearly had to talk to Laura about that before.

Rogue made an odd choking noise and Remy turned to look down at her, curious what she would say.

"I - He's fine, Laura." Not a glowing review necessarily from anyone else, but he'd take it for now, especially from Rogue.

"Seriously, don't worry about it," Kitty cut in, and for once Remy was glad for her meddling spirit. "Like, sometimes that's just how watching a movie goes. It's one of the reasons we watch tv-all the excitement of adventure without actually being in danger ourselves."

Laura looked between the two older X girls, not looking like she really believed either of them, but she apparently had no way to disprove them so she nodded and sat back, putting her eyes on the screen, more like a student watching a teacher than a kid watching tv.

After giving it a few minutes, Remy let his thumb resume its patterns on Rogue's arm, pleased to find she'd relaxed back a little against his arm around her shoulders. He turned his head, quickly resting first his cheek and then the lower half of his face very softly against her hair before turning back to the tv.

For forty blissful minutes, until whatever cheesy slasher film they were watching ended, Rogue let him keep his arm on her shoulder. She was a little stiff (which was to be expected honestly). She seemed a little unsure (which he was finding he really didn't mind). But she'd still let him, something he couldn't stop himself from smiling about a little (even if he'd wanted to and, he was surprised to find, he didn't really mind or care to stop) as he rode back to the base that night.

There is a fanart I based a small snippet of off after the battle. You can find it here!

** post/159239958983/bonka-and-i-have-been-watching-some-xmen-evolution**


	11. Chapter 11

Hello!

WOW so much positive feedback last chapter! Thank you so much! It definitely got me motivated to write faster-thank you seriously. I appreciate every comment/like/kudo so much. If I ever miss responding, please know it's not on purpose and every time an email from ffn or ao3 hits my email box it does legitimately make my day.

Also, someone caught that the title of the fic is from (Starship by Team Starkid) which was super cool and if you're curious I will definitely attach the song next chapter (or you can look it up obv, but I can attach the link to make life easier if you need haha). I just thought the title/mentality of the song fit perfectly.

And as always, thank you to thehazeofdusk for editing and keeping me inspired. BTW I've said on tumblr, but if I haven't on here: you should check out her stuff! It's AMAZING.

There are a few end of chapter notes! I didn't want to put them up here and spoil anything :)

**Chapter 11**

Fall had finally come. Not that he was actually complaining this time around.

Usually, if he were asked, he'd always prefered the summer and spring. Hot and balmy though it was (especially in Louisiana) the spring and summer months held some of his best childhood memories, few though they were. Chasing fireflies with his cousins, causing trouble up and down the bayou with his brother, plenty of tourists to pickpocket, and (once he'd grown) plenty of scantily clad tail to chase to his heart's desire. The days were lazy, the nights were wild and then fall would come to end it all. The warmth and freedom would all fade away to the cold basically overnight.

He hadn't actually gotten a summer in Bayville, just the (almost) two weeks he'd been back really, so he supposed it was easier to not miss the summer here when fall finally blew through. Can't miss what you never knew, he'd always reasoned.

It didn't feel like only two weeks, that was for sure, although not in a bad way. The first week (with the whole Sentinel mess and staying at the X mansion for a few days) had flown by, sure, but this last week had flown by in a different way-less activity but with just as much excitement for him. Sure, the excitement was bundled into smaller packages (some days he only got to see his friend for enough time to pick her up at school and drop her off before one of them had something to do) but then there were nights like last night, when he'd gotten to go in and watch a movie with friends (with her) and that had made any wait worthwhile. To be honest, he couldn't recall anything about the stupid slasher movie in the end, only that Rogue had let him keep his arm around her the whole time, something he'd found himself smiling about before he fell asleep that night.

As for now, he was starting to think fall might not actually be so bad as he hopped from tree limb to tree limb, following his unsuspecting prey through the park. Not when the cool weather gave him such a great view: ripped jeans with fishnet underneath, a tight coat flattering her thin waist, and a baggy scarf that showed off just enough of the pale white skin of her neck. He shook his head-maybe a bit too much looking, but you couldn't blame a man for admiring art. He grinned as she finally sat herself on a bench, headphones in, and pulled out a book from her bag as she waited.

He crouched lightly, careful to not rustle any leaves around him as he leapt through the air, landing as softly as possible behind her as he snuck closer...and closer...and close enough to pull her earbud out as -

"What y' readin', _chère_?"

She actually looked like she jumped a few inches into the air this time, turning to fix him with an expression he knew most would find intimidating but he couldn't help but find a little adorable; lips pursed in frustration, eyes locked on to his in a solid glare, hair falling a little into her eyes from under her hat, nose wrinkled and just a little red from the cold.

"Swamp Rat!" She stood, whacking him in the arm with her book. "I _swear _someday I'm gonna put a bell on you!"

He laughed, a full sound that rumbled through his chest, bringing him a little extra warmth against the slight chill of the air. He reached out, brushing her bangs away from her eyes as his laugh slowed, enjoying watching her try to not smile back.

"I'm serious. A bell. We're gettin' you one," she said, nose still wrinkled adorably. The grey of her eyes was bright even in contrast to the multi-colored leaves falling all over the park. Her hands were on her hips, making him grin down at her, debating if he could make the ballsy move to sling his arm around her shoulders again. "Deal."

They fell into a companionable silence, walking the path of the park, but he couldn't quite say what scenery was around him. Not when Rogue was walking so closely to him, shoulder almost bumping his bicep. She'd been smarter than him and bundled up a little. He'd thrown on jeans and a simple flannel over his shirt, underneath his duster, of course, but that had been the extent of his layering. Between her coat and her scarves, mittens, and hat, the only indication she was cold was the red of the tip of her nose and her similarly chilled cheeks.

He smiled down at the ground, weirdly just feeling...happy walking along enjoying each other, and bumped her shoulder with his own, pulling a laugh out of her. He liked how relatively simple things were with Rogue. He used to think simple would be boring and avoided it at all costs. Maybe if he'd known how nice it would be for his friendships (or relationships) to be simple instead of full of constant drama, he thought, things in his life might have turned out a little bit better. A beautiful blonde's face sprang to mind before he pushed it away: there was no avoiding drama _there_, whether inside the relationship or factors outside it, he knew. It was kind of nice only having to worry about outside stressors with Rogue. It kept things interesting yet calm enough to breathe at the same time.

There was a complexity in the simplicity with Rogue he wasn't used to, but he _was _drawn to. When they didn't spend every moment fighting or arguing (or messing around to avoid fighting and arguing) and instead just spent their time getting to know each other and actually talking, it made for a whole new kind of relationship he wasn't sure he'd even known existed, let alone had. To be fair, he wasn't sure Rogue had either, but he kind of liked that; learning with her when one of them wasn't sure enough to lead.

"Your hair's looking almost long enough you could have another bowl cut," she said, teasing tone resting easy in her husky voice.

"_Ma chérie_, how _dare _y' even _speak _that word!" He couldn't stop the grin, try as he might to react with a straight face.

"What...bowl cut?" Her grin was wide and full and he loved it, despite her (fair enough) ribbing.

He raised an eyebrow, taking a second to appreciate said grin that spread across her face before lunging towards her, chasing her like two kids playing tag at recess. He supposed neither of them had gotten to do much of it in the first place (Jean Luc hadn't cared much for school and he'd read in her files how early on Destiny had isolated Rogue from others) so it didn't feel quite so silly to be chasing her through the park, laughing the whole time. It definitely didn't _feel _childish, as he would have assumed it might. Instead he just couldn't stop grinning, especially when he would almost grab her, causing her to laugh a little harder each time. He herded her towards the parking lot, enjoying the squeal her laugh would transform into when he sped up a little bit and got a little too close for her liking.

They reached the parking lot and she skidded to a halt, cheeks bright and rosy and complimenting perhaps the most carefree smile he'd ever seen on her face by a longshot. He knew he must not look too different, at least in the smiling department.

She let out another small laugh, a hum more than anything really, and started heading the few yards towards his bike, with him not far behind. He was still smiling when she got there first and turned around, looking up at him.

"It _is _getting long though. Your hair," she clarified.

He ran a hand through it, noticing how shaggy it had become. He should probably do something with it so he didn't end up stuck in another bad hairstyle. Still, it was kind of nice to see how long his hair had gotten. Chopping it off might be the easiest, but he kind of liked growing it out. It showed the passage of time well.

"It looks nice, is my point. You know. Now that it's not a bowl cut," she teased.

He rolled his eyes (wondering how much more often he did that since coming back and being around Rogue so much) chuckling. "Yeah, yeah. Let y' brother try out his hair cuttin' skills one time an' y' never live it down," he grumbled. Growing it out, he decided, definitely felt like the right way to go.

He started unpacking his saddle back, pulling out helmets before climbing on his bike, conversation between them free and easy. It was a rare Saturday for her, he'd gathered, when she was actually free the whole day. He had plans to take advantage of as much as time with her as possible. Magneto had mentioned ramping up their training sessions soon and between that and her training as well as schoolwork, he had a feeling he might not have the freedom to see her as often as this last week (even if it had only been a pick up and drop off from school and texting in between some days).

Whatever time he had with her, he knew to take advantage of it while he could get it. He knew how fast things could change...damnit. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off today- it turned his thoughts and was currently freezing words in his throat. Thank goodness Rogue had enough to say and couldn't see the confusion on his face. That or she did see and was trying to let him recover without pointing it out. She was good about that, he'd noticed. He adjusted his sunglasses to make sure they hadn't fallen, revealing his eyes. They were better than contacts, which burned, but easier to lose. The motion reminded him where he was and helped him shake off the weird feeling.

He was here to hang out with his friend. Nothing was wrong.

She climbed on behind him with practiced ease and he was pleased to feel her almost slide right against him this time. Maybe, especially with her letting him keep his arm around her on the couch the previous night, she was letting herself try to be more comfortable with touching (even just with him, which he was absolutely fine with). He could hope at least. She grabbed hold around him and he took off towards town, taking the back roads when possible. It was still too quick, but maybe that was just because all trips seemed quicker in Bayville. The backroads were much longer when they were a dirt county road, bumps the whole way keeping your riding partner holding on as tight as possible.

They dismounted, headed for what he knew (although _she _didn't know he already knew) was her favorite bookshop. He'd followed her there before from time to time back when he'd been spying on the X men a few times, grabbed a cup of coffee and a book while he watched over her. He didn't think he'd seen her take anyone there before, and he surprised himself by realizing he really liked that he was the first.

He let her take the lead, not wanting to let on how well he knew the shop already and wanting to continue to listen to her talk about the place and a book she was excited to start. The excitement on her face warmed him more than anything else really, and he had trouble watching where she gestured when her expression was really the most interesting thing there by far.

"What kind of books do you read anyway?" She was looking up at him, tone suddenly a little unsure. He'd been thinking too much. This never used to be a problem. He supposed he should cut himself a little slack considering how long he'd had little to do _but_ think up until recently...he didn't want to though. He wanted to _ignore _that shit.

She stopped walking suddenly, brows furrowed as she looked up at him. He looked back down at her, almost frustrated to see the concern in her eyes, wishing she wouldn't waste that on him. He tried to settle a reassuring smile onto his face, but he knew even with the sunglasses she was too smart for that. She'd looked at him the same way in the Danger Room. He should be making her laugh, not worry, but here he stood worrying over things he could never change instead of letting himself enjoy something truly positive in his life.

He wasn't going back-he'd made sure of that. He got out, fair and square, and Rogue was here and he got to put his past where it belonged and enjoy her. He smiled, a little more genuinely this time, hauling himself out of his fucking head as quick as possible. He was relieved to see some of the worry fade from her eyes. It was still there, but far enough back he could shift both of their trains of thought away from the things he apparently couldn't stop focusing on today. He needed to just shake this and put it out of his mind.

"Hey, you wanna grab a drink before we look at books?"

He cleared his throat and felt a real smile tug at his lips with no trouble this time. How people called her cold and off putting he'd never know. Blunt, yes. Introverted as well. A little rough around the edges, of course. But in truth she was warm and kind, smart and intuitive. A rose growing as many thorns as possible to save others from picking her, but a rose all the same.

"Yeah, 'm a little cold. Could use some coffee."

She laughed and instantly it grounded him more than any of his attempts to erase his negativity today. All of that angst he'd been feeling, all of the worries in the back of his brain that something was off faded away. She was safe, even with him around, and if something happened they would be fine. Nothing _would_ happen, but if it did she would be okay. She was a damn good fighting partner If the need arose. Everything was fine. He needed to shake the feeling someone was following him today, pulling out thoughts he didn't need to think about ever again (not if he had anything to say about it).

She rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, yeah, it's a proper fall chill out there. You got what, a flannel and a tee on under y' duster?"

"Ain't m' fault fall hit overnight."

"There's a thing called a weather report, Swamp Rat. You could always check it before goin' outside," she said, leading the way to the small cafe at the front of the shop.

"Where's the fun in that?"

She shook her head at him, smiling all the same, and ordered herself a cup of tea, paying for it before he even got the chance to offer. He looked down at her closely, although it was hard to look as close when he still had to wear sunglasses inside. It wasn't such a big deal outside, but inside it made enough of a difference he wasn't a fan. He could see her jaw tight though as she waited for her tea. She was still worried. He ordered, wondering momentarily how she would react to knowing how many times he'd done this same thing while she was over on the other side of the store browsing. Would she decide it was too much and he wasn't worth it?

Remy shook that thought from his head and decided against that, deciding to stick to the present. It served them both well, especially where she was concerned. Wasn't her fault he couldn't shake an eerie feeling today. He grabbed his cup of coffee and gently put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to a table near the street. She looked down at her tea and he wished he had never let on to his stupid inner turmoil and made her worry in the first place.

"Kinda nice gettin' t' hang out wit'out the 'jus' checkin' if y' needed anythin' brigade' stoppin' by," he said, smirking. Wolvie, One-Eye, and Rogue's brother had been relentless every day he'd stayed over after dropping her off. Always walking by her bedroom door (to make sure it was _wide _open), always checking on this or that (never anything that required Rogue's immediate attention), always ending up wherever they'd chosen to hang out 'just to say hi'.

Rogue groaned, putting her face in her hands, muffling her voice. "They are so annoyin'! It's like every five seconds between the three of them!"

Remy laughed. "Cain't fault 'em f' watchin' out f' y'."

"Since when are _you _defending _them_?" Her expression was comical, outrage mixed with a small smile she was fighting.

He grinned, leaning forward as he took off his duster. "Not defending. Jus' understandin' where they comin' from, _chère_. Believe me, I'd just as well have them never pass by." He rolled up his flannel sleeves, exposing his forearms, intrigued to see Rogue's eyes flit over the motion several times. His grin became a smirk as he fixed his other sleeve and watched her try to ignore the motion, a good reference to tuck away for later.

_If there was a later._

He looked around quickly, feeling like his heart was suddenly dead and had stopped.

That had been his voice. But it hadn't been his thought. He knew it this time.

_Merde_.

"Still, gotta admit it's kind of nice to be able to hang out where they can't bug us the whole time," she grumbled. He used every skill he'd ever been taught to keep his expression calm and light. He tried to focus on the joy that admission from Rogue brought him. It was nice to know she hated being interrupted just as much as he did.

Nothing was wrong. He'd just gotten everything twisted up in his head today and was letting it get to him.

He tried to focus again on the fact that he liked that her family's visits didn't bother just him. That and the fact that she'd just admitted it outloud. He could tell she was tired of them riding his ass, but knowing was different than actually hearing it. He needed to stay focused on Rogue. Rogue and not looking completely unhinged.

"Cajun?" She looked at him, worry back to the forefront of her eyes, and he knew his erratic movements as he whipped off his sunglasses and looked around the entire shop carefully would not help ease that worry for her.

_Too bad he'd already ruined everything._

_Merde_.

_He wasn't going to find anything unless they wanted him to._

_Merde. Merde. Merde. _

"Hey," he felt Rogue by his shoulder now, voice full of concern, near the glass storefront window to their side and turned towards her with just enough time to pull her to him, rolling them both out of the way as the glass behind where Rogue had just stood shattered everywhere.

He pulled them out of the roll as fast as possible, cursing himself for taking his duster off. He grabbed a handful of glass, not really caring how cut up he would be as long as he could get them out alive, charging it as he stood quickly.

"Long time no see, Gambit."

Fuck.

Marauders.

Before him stood Blockbuster (a problem due to his superhuman strength but not necessarily his smarts) and Arclight (a problem all around). She could send shockwaves (probably how they broke the glass so quickly) strong enough to disorient a person. And that meant he hadn't been crazy…

"_Finally figured me out, LeBeau?"_ whispered his own voice in his head: Malice. She'd been pulling up all the negative thoughts, keeping him confused and frustrated all day.

"Get outta my head!" He growled outloud, not caring how crazy he sounded, slamming down every mental shield in his brain he could. He never should have asked for them to hang out off her campus. He knew they were safe there- why had he let himself be so selfish wanting to have her all to himself for a day? Why hadn't he just asked Pete to help him hide Rogue at the Acolyte base?

Behind him, he heard Rogue groan and stand up, glass crunching under her sneakers. Rogue shrieked suddenly and his stomach dropped. He chucked the glass shards at the Marauders, making sure they had a strong charge before he let them fly, and turned back quickly, seeing Rogue clutching her head.

Fuck.

Malice wasn't trying to possess _him _anymore. Now she was trying to jump into Rogue's brain

Fuck.

He spun and grabbed her hands, pulling them off her ears so she could hear him. "Don't let her in! She's a psychic just like Jean or y' Professor. Fight her, Rogue!" She nodded somewhat, but he felt entirely too helpless to save her.

He turned, making eye contact with Arclight, who was standing again. "Didn't think you'd ever see us again, did you, Gambit? Thought you had everything figured out and taken care of, huh?" she mocked him, voice sickly and sweet.

"Everything _is_ taken care of," he said, voice dark.

"For now maybe," she responded flippantly. "For _you_, maybe."

He knew where she was looking. He didn't need confirmation that she was watching Rogue, a creepy smile planted on her face. Blockbuster stood as well at this point and advanced in Remy's direction.

In Rogue's direction.

_Merde._

He only had one saving grace, he hoped: that they didn't know about her powers.

Remy took a step back, moving in front of Rogue as much as possible, just as the hulking man took another step closer. They _couldn't _know about her powers. He'd done everything he could to keep her out of their records _and _the records of their previously shared employer. Everything. There was no way. Not after everything he'd done. They couldn't have out-maneuvered him.

Arclight followed Blockbuster's suit, stepping even closer and Remy's heart sank as he saw them both pull something out.

Fuck.

They were pulling on masks, effectively covering themselves head to toe.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

They knew about her powers.

Remy looked around the store, trying to not show his panic and unsure if he should be comforted or worried that Rogue's screams had died down.

"Rogue?" He didn't care how worried his voice sounded at this point. He called her name again when she didn't respond.

"I'm good. I think." She sounded exhausted, but he heard her shift and stand and felt her hand touch his arm, and he was comforted enough to know she was standing on her own and had (hopefully) kicked Malice out of her head. Malice wouldn't have possessed her and not attacked him from behind while he was focused on Arclight and Blockbuster. He might not have many advantages, but he knew the Marauders enough to understand basically how they each functioned.

"Oh, my. You actually kicked Malice back to my head. That's an impressive grip you must have on your powers, Rogue," the way Arclight said Rogue's name made Remy's bones feel like an electric shock had just jolted through them. He pushed her behind him more and looked around wildly, trying to find something, anything easy to chuck at them.

Rogue gripped his arm tightly, but let him push her behind him completely. He was going to get her out of here and fuck he had to tell her. He couldn't tell her everything, but he had to tell her or he could kiss their friendship goodbye. She didn't need his shit on top of her own. He would probably be losing his friend after today and he couldn't blame her. She -

He took a small breath in, feeling her arm trail down the inside of his, still behind his back from pushing her entirely behind him.

"Sorry, t' disappoint, Arclight, but y' goin' home empty handed."

Rogue's hand came in contact with his but she didn't grab his hand as he'd briefly thought she might nor was her hand bare, as he'd considered she might have done.

Arclight laughed. "Always so cocky. You don't have the goods to back it up though, LeBeau."

Rogue cupped his hand in hers, silently putting a gigantic pile of glass shards in his hand. He began charging them as he let his other arm swing backwards, like he was trying to protect Rogue from their sight even more.

"Ain't m' fault y' stuck where y' are," He answered, feeling a little more like himself for the first time the entire encounter. He let his empty hand grab hold of Rogue's and held on tight behind him. He waited as both Marauders stepped closer.

One second.

Two.

Three.

He chucked the glass shards at them, and turned around, grasping Rogue, impressing even himself at the explosion he'd created. The second he was sure it was safe, he picked her up, ignoring her sounds of protest, and swung her over his shoulder, sprinting to his bike. They hurriedly jumped on, forgoing helmets, and he took off for the Institute. Every few miles he couldn't stop himself from steering one handed so he could use one arm to grasp her arms around his waist, holding her even more securely to him, needing to feel that she was really still there and that they were okay, even if just for now.

Fuck.

* * *

**"****The door stays open!"**

"We _will_, Logan!" Rogue hollered as she fought to keep herself from sprinting up the stairs. Normal. She needed to act normal. Not only for Remy's privacy, but also, she was starting to think, maybe a little bit for his sanity.

They got up to her door, Remy's grip on her hand causing her fingers to start to tingle, and she pulled him in as gently as possible before quietly shutting the door. Rogue didn't have time to listen to Logan's rules right now. Right now she had a freaked out Cajun who was apparently refusing to leave her side and who she had a feeling didn't need anyone else in his business.

She used his grip on her hand to pull him towards the bed and sat him down (pulling her hand out of his grasp and pushing his shoulders when he remained mostly frozen), placing his duster next to him on the bed. She couldn't guarantee his pockets were still full, but she'd done her best to snag it as he'd sprinted out of the shop. He looked down at it in surprise, the first change in his expression at all.

"Y' grabbed it?"

She nodded and hurriedly sorted through his pockets looking for-holy shit how much stuff did the man keep in this thing?-yes! She grabbed a deck of cards out and held it out to him. When he didn't immediately take it she grabbed his hand and put the deck in it.

"Give me two minutes. I'll be right back."

He didn't say anything or react much but as she moved towards her bathroom she heard the cards start to shuffle.

Rogue stormed through the bathroom, barely bothering to knock before opening Kitty's side of the door, thankful her old roommate was completely dressed and just on the phone.

"Lance? I'm gonna have to let you go…" Kitty immediately hung up and rushed to Rogue. "What's wrong?"

Rogue hesitated, looking back behind her. "...honestly, I don't know. But I need you to keep Logan and Scott away from my room otherwise I ain't about to find out."

Kitty, bless her heart (with absolutely no sense of sarcasm), immediately was off and out her door with only enough time for Rogue to quietly holler after her "Kurt too!" before she walked quickly back into her room.

Remy looked calmer. She'd hoped finding the cards and giving him a second might do that. She'd never seen him like this before. She'd see a dark shadow or expression on his face, seen him hesitate a little, but the way he was looking around the room wildly, scared her. She knew it was dumb to think he was afraid of nothing. He was smart enough to be scared of _something_. But she'd never imagined she'd see him actually shaken up, especially this bad. This...panicked.

She flicked on the light by her bedside, letting some illumination in since the fall air had turned dark and gloomy, and sat on the bed next to him, moving backwards to lean against the wall. She was relieved when he did the same, his head resting backwards against the wall. She had a million questions, but none of them would help either of them right now. Even asking if he was okay felt like it could push him over an edge.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there before he finally spoke.

"Wolvie's gonna kill me for lettin' y' keep y' door closed."

"He'll deal." She paused. "Besides Kitty's running interference. We're fine."

He nodded, looking out the balcony windows, gaze distant.

"I knew them."

She fought to not answer back that yeah, duh, she got that. Resorting to sarcasm to comfort herself was not going to help anything here. She swallowed and looked up at him, trying to keep her breathing smooth and calm, as if by doing so she could transfer some of that calm over to him.

"I gathered that." That was neutral enough, she decided.

He nodded, eyes still locked on the tree outside her window, blowing in the wind. "'Fore I came back I worked for them. Kind of."

"What kind of worked for, Swamp Rat?" She did her best to keep her tone as far from accusing as possible, although she was fairly certain she was failing.

He turned to look at her, eyes empty and face blank. "The kind where I worked f' them, Rogue," he snapped.

She looked down, point taken, before he groaned and she looked up to see the heel of his hands massaging his eye sockets. She bit her tongue, trying desperately to not ask him even more about something he clearly didn't want to be her business. If the situations were reversed, she knew him poking her wound even more would only make her shut up above all else.

"I take it they ain't too happy with you?"

He gave a self deprecating scoff and smirk, looking down at his hands, shoulders now hunched. "I slipped the contract. Turns out Magneto comin' back to life meant my contract with him...with the Marauders….was no longer valid. Made it null and void."

"And two contracts at once is…"

"Against Thieves Guild Rules," he finished for her, voice a little more firm. "Might not actually mean much t' ol' Jean Luc outside'a my powers, but threatenin' the son of Jean Luc, the leader of the entire guild, meant the wrath of the entire Thieves Guild would have come down on the Marauders. Somethin' they didn't want considering Thieves were gettin' them all their intel."

"But…"

He looked at her, eyes blank and mouth tight.

"It's just. Magneto came back right after Apocalypse...but you haven't been back with him that long, have you?"

He nodded, understanding why she'd asked. "Took me a while t' figure out Bucket Head was alive again is all. Wasn't exactly able t' check in here often once I started getting sent on missions f' them-not if I wanted to keep them out of Bayville."

She looked down at her hands, unsure how to say what she was thinking. His hands, much steadier now than they'd just been, gently cupped around her own, thumbs curling in on her palms as he turned his body entirely in front of hers. "Didn't want y' t' get dragged into that shit. 'Specially not on my account." She wasn't sure if he was continuing his previous sentiment, starting a new one, or a mixture of both. She looked up to his eyes, the red of his irises glowing bright.

"I'm an X man," she said, trying to smile and reassure him. "Gettin' mixed up in crazy shit is kind of my job now."

He gave a soft laugh and looked down at their hands. "Not _that_ shit though, Rogue. Ain't the worst I've ever come across, but still…" He didn't finish his sentence and the weight of it felt heavy in the air. What had they done to him? Or made him do?

"Wanted to make sure I told y' now. B'fore we go tell y' Professor."

Huh? Her confusion must have shown incredibly clearly on her face. "But I know you've done things you ain't proud of...why were you worried about _me _findin' out?" Did he really think she'd judge him over that? Maybe if she understood him less, she could admit, but she _did _understand him. How could he not know that?

He looked at her, a strange gentleness in his eyes past the glowing of his irises, making him look a little more like himself, and he released one of her hands to softly reach up, again pushing her bangs out out of her face and tucking them behind her ear, fingers resting by her ear once he finished. "Jus' didn't want it t' get twisted. Don't exactly have the best track record wit' y'."

She ran the thumb of the hand still cupped within his against the back of his hand (hoping the gesture would calm him like it calmed her when he did it) and did her best to manage a small smile. "Appreciated." It wasn't necessary, she'd like to think, for him to be that careful with her, but it _was _definitely appreciated.

"We gotta go meet wit' y' Professor." He stood, using their linked hands to pull her with him. When she didn't move as fast as he apparently wanted he looked down at her, a questioning look on his face.

"Now? But don't you need to talk to Magneto first?"

"_Ma_ _chérie_, their skin was almost covered head to toe," he dug the fingers of his free hand through her hair, making sure she was looking him in the eyes. "They were there for _you_. Magneto can go fuck himself f' all I care right now."

* * *

"What's Magneto think of you bringin' sensitive information to his rival team?" Despite the fact that Rogue herself had asked a very similar thought of Remy before getting down to the Professor's office, Rogue wanted to throttle Logan for asking it. She'd at least meant her question genuinely. Logan was just trying to rattle Remy.

"Don't much care right now."

"Yeah, he'd probably love to hear that," Scott grumbled. Rogue refused to even look in his direction. When she and Remy had reached the Professor's office, she'd expected to be able to just tell the Professor. Not for him to call Logan and Scott in to listen to what Remy had to say as well. The situation was bad enough as it was without adding Scott into the mix. She was pissed enough at him as was and with how out of sorts she knew Remy was (even if he wasn't outwardly showing it now), it was a recipie for disaster.

""M clocked out. He don't get a say."

"I'm sure he'll like _that _excuse."

"That will be _enough_, Scott," The Professor didn't show any frustration on his face, but he certainly let his voice show it. "Now, Gambit. Start from the beginning."

Remy paused and looked at Rogue, which made her heart thump. Why was he looking to her? She only knew what he'd told her? She tried to give him a reassuring look, but wasn't sure how much it helped. He looked back down to the ground and then up to the Professor, clearly trying to not show his discomfort. "Got mixed up wit' some bad people. They showed up t'day in town, covered head t' toe and Malice-she's a psychic who -"

" - Can bring out your darkest thoughts and possess you," the Professor finished for him, nodding. "I'm familiar with her work."

That was a surprise for Rogue. For Scott too if his face was any indication.

"She was in m' head. Didn't catch her until she started tryin' t' jump over t' Rogue. Rogue fought her off and we ran."

"Rogue, do you feel any lingering effects?"

"I don't think so…"

"You don't mind my checking, do you?"

"No."

"Good. In fact, I'll get Jean to do it while Gambit fills us in on the rest of the details."

"Wait, y' gonna send her out? Shouldn't she hear this?"

The Professor and Logan exchanged looks. "We will fill her in on what she needs to know once we've checked she's the only one in her head."

Remy frowned, not seeming to like that answer. "Everything's gonna be 'need to know'," he said stubbornly.

"And Rogue will know it, but not if there's a chance Malice is still hiding in her brain," the Professor said calmly.

"Shouldn't you be th' one checkin'? Seein' as y' have more experience? That way y' check then we all talk. No need t' have to relay the information a second time," stubborn and obstinate as he sounded, he had a point, Rogue thought to her self.

"Jean is well qualified to complete this task. Rogue, she will be here any second. You can head on your way."

Remy turned to look at her, to see what she'd do, just as Jean opened up the Professor's door.

"Ah, yes, Jean. Rogue will be right out so you can check her mind is clear and hers alone. Rogue, if you will?" Rogue looked between Remy and the Professor, unsure what to do but very sure it felt like she was choosing between the two.

That's definitely how Remy saw it, she felt, once she stood to go walk to Jean. She turned to look over her shoulder one time, taking in Remy's tense posture and the frustration rolling off of him, but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. The Professor did say he'd fill her in once she was done.

* * *

Outside of barely being allowed to leave the house, the rest of the weekend passed with little to no incident and very little mention of what had happened Saturday outside of a few comments from Logan and once text specifically about it from Remy. She got why he didn't want to put anything in writing, but she didn't get why she was being handled with little kid gloves. Remy was acting like she already knew what was going on and she knew she couldn't ask him anything more until she saw him in person. The X men were acting like she didn't need to know anything else until she got sent on a mission that concerned this. Here she sat in the middle feeling like if one side didn't start talking soon she was going to kick all their asses.

She knew everyone was talking circles around her and that they all knew something she shouldn't. She'd expected a little of that from the Professor and Logan. Scott too, even. It wasn't a part she liked about being an X man, but she was more comfortable with the idea of compartmentalizing information now. She hadn't expected this of Remy though, although to be fair to him, he mostly just seemed to be referring to things cryptically as if she already should know what's going on - just as infuriating but less by a little.

She didn't even know what questions to ask and was left no time really alone with Remy _to _ask if she knew what to ask in the first place.

It was a relief on Monday when lunchtime hit and she found Remy sitting at her favorite lunch spot on campus, leaning back against the tree calmly as he waited for her. She parted ways with Kitty and Kurt quickly, quick enough Kitty was able to pull Kurt away from following, and headed towards him, relief bubbling up in her.

"You gonna start showin' up during the day now?"

He rolled his eyes,a half grin on his face, but his eyes remained serious, scanning the area surrounding them. "I can go if y' wantin'," he said absently.

She sat down next to him in response and pulled out her sandwich, offering him half. He nodded in thanks and took it. The way he was looking everywhere around her said that even if she said she wanted him to go right now, he'd still linger nearby.

"Why y' still comin' here?"

"To school? So I can get my diploma."

"Not like that. I mean right _now_, _chère_."

She paused, confused. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be? Cause if there is no one's tellin' me."

He turned towards her, eyebrow raised an anger vividly clear in his expression. "C'mon, Rogue, y' saw those guys in action. Y' know what they're capable of. Y' really think school is the best idea right now?" Why was he frustrated with her? She wasn't the one helping keep him in the dark: he was the one doing that to her.

"No, actually I don't really know what they're capable of cause all y'all are treatin' me like a kid." She hadn't meant to snap, but it was hard not to when he spoke to her like that.

His mouth opened and closed a few times, indignant, before he spoke. "Y' Professor didn't tell y' a damn thing, did he?"

She didn't need to answer. He already knew. His ears were red from anger, eyes glowing again.

"_Bien sûr que non_," he muttered to himself. "How's _that _supposed t' help?" His voice was louder again, frustration in every syllable. "How y' supposed t' keep safe when y' don't know what t' watch out f'?"

Although normally she would not be the one defending Professor Xavier, she was the only one here who would. Had he ever steered her that wrong before on purpose? He always meant to keep his students safe. "We have a mission in a few days. He's probably just waitin' until then," she answered, eyes narrowed, not liking how cornered she felt, especially since he was the one doing it.

Remy looked like he was about to explode. "Y' can't be serious."

"Well what am I supposed to do? You haven't said anything specific since Saturday night either!"

"Yeah, cause y' Professor said t' stay away from y' so they don't find y' as fast. He said _he'd _brief y' and I had nothin' t' worry 'bout!"

"Well, maybe he's going to!" What did he want from her here? What was she supposed to do? She couldn't force the Professor to tell her anything, same as him with Magneto.

"Clearly. He's just sittin' on important information that'll keep y' safe, and he just _hasn't gotten a chance _t' yet. _That's _why y' in the dark."

She'd never imagined him angry before and was glad for it: she hated every second of the anger in his eyes, the upset in his voice, and the way she could hear even more depth to the emotion-almost like she was betraying him-but couldn't read anything off of him outside of anger.

"If you got somethin' to say, Cajun, just say it outright," she spat bitterly.

"Wouldn't wanna take that from y' Professor seein' as he's deemed it better t' wait," he spat bitterly.

"Are you kidding me? One second you're angry the Professor didn't tell me anything yet, the next you're doin' the same thing! What do you want from me here?" They were starting to draw attention to themselves, but she couldn't really find it within herself to care.

"What I _want _is f' y' t' stop blindly trustin' y' team. Have y' even asked them when they'd allow y' t' know more? Or are y' just content t' sit an' wait until they decide everything f' y', Rogue?"

She wanted to be anywhere but here. How was this suddenly her fault? "I'm _supposed _to trust my team, Cajun. That's how it's supposed to work."

"Yeah? That works f' you? Or does it work f' _them_?" Each word sent a shock of cold through her, making her face feel numb. She needed to get out of this. Now. She needed to be able to rewind, to let them just sit and eat her damn sandwich in peace. "'Cause from where I'm standin' looks like y' just lettin' 'em take advantage, same as Mystique."

"Then move downwind," she cut in coldly, fighting the urge to just walk away from all of this.

"Only reason y' don't notice or _want _t' notice is 'cause they're nicer about it an' make it seem like they're doin' it 'cause they care. That and they come in a nice, pretty Scott Summers shaped package."

That almost stopped her in her tracks, quite a feat for her. "What does this have to do with _Scott_? This is about the Pr-"

Remy scoffed. "Y' gotta be kidding me, Rogue. The guy says jump and y' do it wit' no question on why or any regard f' y'self. It's fucking ridiculous."

"Scott has nothing to do with this! Besides, I _trust _them. I trust _him_. There's nothing wrong with that, Gambit. They've stuck around for me longer than anyone."

"Oh, so y' just fine with them keepin' secrets from y' because they've stuck around?"

"Yeah, Gambit, that's what _happens _when you stick around. People learn to trust you!"

They were almost nose to nose, breathing hard and angry. She could feel tears pricking at the corner of her eyes and the unbearable need to get out. Get away. Not be here. She had to move.

Now.

Rogue grabbed her bag quickly, not even checking if she had everything and took off sprinting towards campus, knowing he couldn't (and now probably wouldn't care to) follow her there. She hurried right past Kitty's concerned face in the courtyard, knowing if she actually looked at her friend she would break down and she couldn't allow herself to do that, especially when there was a chance he could see and have that to hold over her head as well.

* * *

"Are you sure you are not wanting to come downstairs?"

Rogue did her best to smile at Pete, act like everything was fine. Because it was. If Gambit was going to be an asshole, start a giant fight, and then not even try to make contact for a little over a week now, then she was just fine without him. He fucked up. He started it. And she was fine.

They'd fought last Monday. It was the Tuesday a week past that, and she'd heard nothing from him. She hadn't reached out to him either, but if he didn't care enough to come talk to her and try to sort things out or ignore the fight together, she could just as easily move on and not care either.

Pete was really too kind. He'd been over a lot this last week hanging out with Kitty, sometimes coaxing Rogue to come join in, but always making the effort to invite her along. It just tended to make her more angry though, remembering how normal the last few weeks had felt and comparing it to now, feeling like a piece of their regular hangouts was missing. Not that she missed Remy. Because she didn't. Not if he was gonna be an asshole over something she didn't even do.

"Sure, I'll come down, Pete. Let me just grab my notebook. I'll meet you guys there," she tried to put a somewhat normal tone into her inflection, but it was hard when she was this exhausted. Piotr nodded and went on his way, leaving her to follow when she was ready.

What was she supposed to do? Not trust anyone ever? Wasn't the whole point of being on a team that there were people looking out for you? And right there! Wasn't he always telling her it was nice to have people looking out for you? Here he'd been trying to convince her to trust him to watch over her, and the next second he was pissed she allowed anyone to do that. What was she supposed to do? Only trust him? The guy who kidnapped and ghosted her before suddenly showing back up?

Even worse, he was kind of correct in his own right, just as she was. The mission the Professor had told her about had been a bust and she'd been told nothing new at all. Absolutely nothing. If the Marauders were really as dangerous as Gambit had alluded to (and she had no doubt they were, based on his reactions), why was the Professor keeping his team in the dark? Or was it just her?

They'd arrived at the location, but found absolutely nothing there-not a peep or trace of anything that led to the Marauders or what they might be doing. When they'd gotten on the plane, Scott had made an off-handed comment about how Gambit had probably wiped the place clean for them since he used to work with the Marauders, which had sparked another fight for her and she somehow found herself defending the guy she was so pissed at.

Keeping up the energy to be pissed at two people (plus herself, plus the confusion over how the issue had blown up so quick) had drained every bit of her energy all week, distracting her from basically everything else. It was a stark contrast from the days she used to feel angry at the whole world day in and day out.

She sighed, grabbing her homework and notebook before heading downstairs, forcing herself to pick a different train of thought.

Kitty and Piotr and hanging out. That was much safer. She'd never thought of Pete as particularly concerned about her outside of just being a nice guy, but the entire week he'd been taking extra care to check in or come up and say hi in the midst of hanging out with Kitty. He must have heard something from Kitty about the fight because he'd shown up every day since not just to say hi to Kitty, but also to Rogue. Sometimes Kitty would come with him, sometimes just Pete would come awkwardly stand outside her door making small talk when she'd declined their offer to go downstairs and hang out. It was endearing for him to offer friendship if nothing else and it gave her something positive to focus on.

She could use an uneventful chill session with Kitty and Pete though. The large man had begun painting more when he came over and Kitty spent a lot of their time filling in conversation. Between the two of them, it made less for Rogue to think about for sure.

She double checked her bag, making sure to have everything she might need for homework when Jean's voice sounded in her head, worried and rushed.

"_Senior X Men team to the hanger bay. Suit up. Bobby too. We'll debrief on the plane."_

So much for an uneventful chill session.

* * *

**The Velocity landed outside an old factory building, decrepit and looking to be falling apart from the outside in. Rogue wrinkled her nose, unsure of what kind of mutant would be using this space for practice. Didn't seem quite safe to her. The Professor had apparently been getting some pretty strong readings of a mutant power in that specific area though and he'd never been wrong before when it came to Cerebro.**

He couldn't tell much about the mutant (their ability, who they were, what they looked like), just that whatever they could do was enough to freak Cerebro out and alert him every few minutes.

"Okay. Everyone stay on alert. Sigma Alpha Charlie formations."

Rogue was relieved when she wasn't the only one trying to remember Scott's many different formations. She looked at Kitty, who shrugged, and then back at Scott, waiting for him to figure out none of them knew what that meant.

"Is that the one where we throw the football to the end zone? Or the one where we launch Bobby into the air?" Kurt asked, trying to lightly let on to Scott that he was going to need to clarify.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Nightcrawler. Get in formation."

"I am not joking, _mein Freund_. I don't know what that means."

"Seriously?" Scott turned around looking from face to face, apparently disappointed to find that even his girlfriend had no clue what he wanted. "Guys, you were supposed to memorize these!"

"_Doch_."

Scott looked to be rolling his eyes behind his visor. "Guys, this is important!"

"I can't help it, man. I only made it through chapter one of your packet."

"It's - It's the one where - oh, screw it. Storm and Wolverine run operations here. Jean and Beast take the upper floor. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and I'll take the perimeter floor. Iceman and Rogue take the bottom floor."

"Right!" Kurt snapped to attention, saluting, before grabbing Kitty by the elbow. "Shall we, _Schätzchen_?"

Kitty giggled before walking off with him. "But of course." She turned back, eyebrow raised, clearly enjoying the idea of her and Kurt getting to torture Scott the entire mission. "Scott are you coming?"

Rogue laughed a little, feeling foreign to the action considering how little she'd done of it lately. That was kind of weird-she'd never laughed a lot before. How could two weeks make that much of a difference, she wondered as she walked over to Bobby, following him towards the building.

"Any of this feel weird to you?"

Rogue sighed. "Everything feels weird right now."

"It's like there's something coming and we have no clue."

She nodded in response, not liking the idea of going into the building from the bottom floor. They reached the building's exterior, which looked even older the closer they got, and Rogue put her hand on the handle. She looked back at Bobby and waited for a nod to show he was ready before opening the door.

They entered quickly, closing the door behind them. A small amount of sunlight shone down through the cracks in the ceiling and the dust in the air. Rogue was thankful it was sunny today otherwise they'd only have flashlights to rely on.

"You should ice up," she whispered. Bobby nodded and she returned to taking in their surroundings. It didn't look like a very complex floor plan: it was almost entirely open outside of a closed door under the staircase.

"Bottom floor's clear," Rogue said into her communicator. She looked around, trying to find anything noteable or helpful as she did, but the place was empty just like their last mission. There was a charged energy in the air though-heavy, thick, and leaving the lasting impression that they were not alone there.

"So...do we just stay here then?"

Rogue just stared at Bobby for a moment, trying to push down her annoyance and remember he was new to this. At least he was trying today. She didn't get why they always put him with her, like she was a good leader or teacher for the hyper guy. She took a deep breath before shaking her head and walking over to the closed door, pointing as she went, trying to indicate with as little sarcasm as possible: 'hey look. I'm telling you something..._quietly_. Without my mouth. Because we're on a _mission _and we're being _quiet_'.

He was smarter than she gave him credit for, something she was often reminded of on missions or moments alone with him, encouraged to see that he immediately nodded and took up her flank, on guard and doing his best to be watchful.

She put her hand lightly on the door handle, but only managed to turn it slightly before she heard a thunk above her head. She looked up and frowned. Glowing a light yellow color, right above her head stuck into the door was a card.

Great.

She dodged before it could explode, glad to hear Bobby complaining afterward so she knew he was okay as well.

She stood, furious, and squared up, her fists almost shaking with anger as she came face to face with Gambit, far enough away that the slight breeze from outside blew his duster around behind him. His face was blank and she couldn't read anything off of him outside of a businesslike manner he was projecting about him.

"Dude, not cool!" Bobby yelled, shooting ice shards straight at Gambit. Gambit immediately threw a few cards towards Bobby, apparently deciding ignoring her was fine- that she wasn't a threat at all. She frowned, trying to not let herself get caught up in that. They'd agreed to keep their friendship separate from work. Surely that applied right now too, right? She couldn't let her anger with him disrupt her mission, just like he shouldn't with his.

Seeing he was distracted well enough with Bobby, Rogue backed towards the door slowly, finding the handle behind her. She barely managed to grab it before another light yellow card flew towards her feet, making her dodge away. Over the explosion, she was easily able to hear Gambit call for Pyro. She looked near her feet, frowning, before hauling herself up and watching around herself carefully: there was barely a scorch mark on the ground (or the door his card had lodged into). Why make the effort to throw the cards at her if he was barely letting them explode?

"YeeeeeeeHaw!" Pyro came swinging around the banister of the stairs, immediately prepared to meet Rogue in battle, flame thrower at the ready. She watched him carefully. Pyro was good with his fire, yes, but if she could detach any part of the flame thrower, he'd be forced to fight her hand to hand. She'd only managed it once in the Danger Room, but it was about the only plan she had. Outside of...

"Been a while, Sheila! Ready to dance?"

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," she said, running around the other side of the stairs, as if she meant to come up behind him. She heard him follow but it gave her enough cover to remove her glove when he couldn't see.

One quick touch. She could handle one quick touch. Enough to hopefully knock him out and get a little of his power in case he stayed conscious and started playing with fire. She took a deep steadying breath and turned, face to face now not with Pyro, but Gambit.

She froze, and it gave him all the advantage he needed. He slammed her against the banister, using his staff to push her further back and forcing her to use her hands to try to keep the staff from pushing against her shoulders too hard as he leaned into it towards her.

She kicked upwards, getting his stomach (not where she'd be aiming, but if he was gonna fight full out so was she) and leaping over him, shoving him down to the ground with her hips on top of his, ankles curled under his knees, and her hands pinning his above his head. He pushed upwards with his hips and she was momentarily confused why he was having trouble getting her off of him. He was stronger than her and (though she was loathe to admit it) usually had the upperhand in battle.

For a second, his breath blowing harshly on her face as hers was on his, she felt frozen. Beyond frozen, she was back in that moment she'd run from him-angry tears (frustrated tears. sad tears?) threatening to form in the corners of her eyes-and he had the same look in his eyes; definitely mad, but deep underneath she was starting to think she recognized a little hurt as well.

That second was all he needed to flip them, his hands pinning hers down now, chest heaving against her own as they continued to glare at one another, each refusing to be the one to speak first. She bucked her hips, trying in vain to push him off of her, only to feel him push her hips right back down with a roll of his own. She struggled to twist her hand around to get her bare fingers touching any of his, wiggling her hips underneath him a little more to try to draw his attention away from her hands, but his grip on her wrists was too solid.

His gaze on hers was hypnotic, similar to when he'd used his charming powers on her before, but something altogether very different at the same time. His eyes were half lidded, their noses almost touching, as they continued to glare at each other. She wet her bottom lip, suddenly very self conscious of the act when she saw his eyes flutter downwards to watch the motion, only for his eyes to meet hers again, bringing a wave of heat through her body that had nothing to do with the fire and ice fight happening on the other side of the stairs. Why was he just staring at her? Why wasn't he yelling at her or fighting her?

She pushed upwards again, frustrated and trying to wiggle out of his grip, only for him to tighten his thighs around her hips. "Not a good idea, Rogue" he said softly, voice a little strained, letting his torso rest against hers as he stretched their hands further away from their heads. No longer were their chests heaving and brushing occasionally. Now they were so close it felt like each hard breath, they breathed together.

She frowned, grunting as she tried to move again. "You gonna fight me? Or you just gonna stare at me, Gambit?" He smirked but didn't answer, infuriating her even more. "Well?" she demanded.

"Don't gotta make a choice, _chérie_. I'm th' one on top. If I don't wanna move, I don't gotta and I'm quite happy where I am, thanks."

She hated the intonation in his tone, half the same condescending jerk she'd originally met, half a deeper tone of suggestion that settled below her stomach where their hips connected. She tried to use her legs to kick out from under him one more time, watching him close his eyes briefly as she did so. Something about the reaction didn't scream pain exactly. His voice however, sounded plenty pained when he finally spoke. "I'm' _tryin' _t' help y', now would y' hold still an' let me?"

"What and blindly trust someone? Not smart to do that, remember?" She said, hating that she was the one who broke and brought their failed friendship out into the open.

He froze and although she hadn't expected him to, it gave her enough time to slip his hold. Immediately punching and kicking as soon as she had the chance, trying to get close enough to connect their skin and hopefully knock him out. He went on the defense, oddly, throwing the occasional light yellow card at her that would explode with a small crack. Frustrated that he was barely even trying to fight back, she got a good punch on his stomach before hopping back out of his reach. The card that had been in his hand seconds before was brighter than she'd ever seen, she thought to herself as it came sailing towards her, closer to a magenta color than yellow or even gold.

She had just enough time to hear him swear before he dove for her, pulling her the opposite direction of where his card had just landed. She looked over-a giant hole in the floor where she'd just been.

Too soon she realized her mistake- her distraction giving him the opportunity to grab her tight to him, pinning her chest to the wall, his chest against her back. He had her hands pinned in between them. She moved them around desperately, trying to find skin to collide with her ear or cheek.

"Aw, _chérie_, y' fixin' t' finally use y' powers ain't y'. And y' pick me? I'm touched," he said, a slight grunt to his voice only audible by how close his lips were to her ear. There was a small tremor to his voice, the only indicator he was as surprised by the explosion he'd just created as well. She tried to move her head (anything to touch his skin and knock him out) but he was too fast for that.

What he wasn't fast enough for, however, was the gigantic shriek from up above them followed by a large cracking noise, probably from the top of the staircase.

He swore and immediately let go over her, catching her eye just long enough for her to see the crazed look in it and for him to push her forward towards the building door and roar after her, "Get out!"

* * *

So there we have it! The beginning of Remy's story unravelling. It's coming piece by piece and there's definitely more, but hopefully those of you who have been asking will have a little to mull over now.

All credit for the "get you a bell" line goes to Kelly Thompson in the Rogue and Gambit mini series.

Chapter 12 is already beta read and I'm doing final revisions so I promise I won't intentionally leave you hanging too long! I know fight chapters and cliffhangers are kind of the worst and I left you with both D:

I always get so sad when people fight in fic (which is why I wanted this fight to be something that they genuinely needed to discuss + they're pretty hotheaded and something that had been building) and wasn't going to unless it held up to "The Mummy test", which is my own test but it works for me (basically, are they fighting to fight/having a nothing fight? Or because they want the other person to understand and are frustrated they don't see their point of view, like in the Mummy 1999 haha) and this definitely qualified (I hope!).


	12. Chapter 12

Hello! Thank you to everyone for reading! I've been loving continuing to hear from people.

I don't wanna jinx myself here (4th chapter posted in about 10 days) BUT I will say I'm a teacher and it's almost summer and I'm hoping I'll be able to continue to write a lot during that time.

I was super surprised to find when I uploaded the last chapter how close I was to 100k (I'm going off the ao3 count because that doesn't include my author's notes) but that should be this chapter either way and that's super crazy to me? It's also super crazy and awesome to hear you guys enjoying this just as much as me. Thank you for letting me know!

Anyway, 100k in 12 chapters is crazy and holy cow I'm just looking at my outline trying to figure out how long this will actually end up being haha

Thanks as always to thehazeofdusk who beta read and always has great ideas and inspiration for me. I know I write it every time, but I sincerely mean it every time.

**Chapter 12**

She dove for the door, not able to find a reason to argue with him. Not when he sounded like that-it was past anger, past frustration with her. Whatever it was, it was enough of a wake up call for her to realize he was putting his own ass on the line in trying to get her out of there rather than take care of himself and she wasn't about to let him do that in vain.

She tried to look around in the haze of steam and smoke left in the wake of Bobby and Pyro, but couldn't hear or see either of them. Shit. She continued running towards the door, avoiding the gigantic hole Gambit had just made in the floor, trying to get out and yelling for Bobby to follow as she did so.

Another shriek and Rogue struggled to cover her ears, trying to block some of it out, feeling in the process that her attempt was futile.

"Oh, little girl…" Shit. She knew that voice. The Marauder-the one who'd done all the talking at the bookstore. She was standing in the building's open doorway, blocking Rogue from exiting.

Shit.

She backed away, only to feel another body close behind hers. She jumped, still not entirely sure if she should be relieved or worried that it was Remy. Before she could decide, he was pulling her back to the other side of the room, grim determination on his face as he glared at the Marauder, almost yanking her arm out of its socket as he moved them away from the now occupied path he'd originally sent her on.

She looked around, trying to find a way out, before she heard a crashing to her right-a window. She looked back and saw Gambit ducking away, realizing he'd exploded the glass. He grabbed her wrist again, pulling her towards himself and the window just as another shriek sounded, knocking them both into the wall. He had done his best to take the brunt of the hit, which she now understood was Arclight's shrieking, but missed covering everywhere, Rogue's head smacking into the wall.

She grabbed her head, dizzily, and pulled her hand away, not surprised to find blood on her bare hand. She felt sick to her stomach and the world twisted sideways. Every sound made her head hurt worse and although she vaguely heard herself call out for him, it sounded weak even to her own ears.

* * *

She remembered hearing her name, panic laced throughout it, and felt shaking hands pulling her closer to solid warmth.

* * *

"C'mon, _ma_ _chérie_. Jus' hang tight. Remy'll get y' outta here."

* * *

"John, we gotta go! Get the Icekid!"

* * *

She was flying, she thought. But this wasn't smooth enough to be flying. She looked up, noticing her eyes had to open to do so. She closed her eyes immediately, feeling sick. The only thing she'd seen, other than the dark sky, was Remy's determined face above her.

* * *

His arms were warm where they held her to his chest, under her knees and around her back.

* * *

"Gambit, what the fuck happened to her?" Scott. He sounded furious.

"No time! Get her outta here! To Wolverine! Now!"

Remy's panic was enough to convince Scott, apparently. She felt the loss of Remy's warmth as a different set of hands took hold of her.

* * *

"Someone get a blanket!"

* * *

"You're doing wonderfully, Rogue. We'll have you home soon so Logan can give you his powers. Stay with us."

* * *

"We're home, _Hummel_. You are going to be fine!"

* * *

"Hang tight, kid. Just need you to stay awake a second so you can get my powers."

* * *

Rogue sat up, hand tight to her head. She was nowhere near as dizzy as she'd been the last she remembered, but her stomach still churned a little as she moved.

"Careful, there now."

She looked over, blinking as she realized she was back in her least favorite room of the Institute: the infirmary. She winced at the light.

"Yes, I expect the light will hurt for a bit. For now I have a pain killer you can take, but you should wait until you've eaten something first."

Rogue looked up to Hank's kind eyes. "Got anything for my stomach?"

"Ah, nauseous are we?"

She nodded, feeling a little more solid the longer she sat.

"Take two of these. Wait thirty minutes, eat something, then take the pain killers." He handed her two bottles, drawing a giant 'x' on the cap of the painkillers. "I expect you're wanting to sleep in your own room tonight?"

She nodded, trying to get her legs to cooperate as she started to move out of the infirmary bed, momentarily startled to feel lose fabric around her legs instead of the uniform she'd been expecting. She looked down, surprised to find she was in her softest pajama pants and a tank. Storm or one of the girls must have risked life and limb to change her. She'd have to remember to thank them: they could have just left her in her uniform, but this made for less work for her when she got up to her room.

"Well. You've had Logan's powers long enough I'm confident any lingering symptoms are your body trying to reacclimate to using your powers and suddenly not having a pretty serious concussion. Logan says that's the worst affliction to get over."

Figures. She'd gone so long without using her powers and now that she had, she couldn't remember it. "Yeah, I recall him mentionin'." She paused, worried. "Hank, is he -"

"Logan is fine. He reported there was no change in the strength of your powers that he noticed. Nothing different than before anyway."

She sighed in relief, too tired to hide it. Hank smiled at her again as she finally stood, legs feeling wobbly but overall solid. "The Professor and I know how you feel about missing school, but I recommend you stay home tomorrow, even after using Logan's powers."

"I can't miss sch -"

"Decide tomorrow, Rogue. I promise I'll wake you up to ask," he said, his face gentle despite the humor in his voice. She supposed if the guy with a literal education degree was suggestion she should stay home, it might not hurt, but the idea of Principal Kelly deciding it meant she needed to do her senior year a third time still gave her pause.

She tried to give Hank a small smile as she grabbed the bottles from his extended hand and found her way out the door, eager to just get upstairs and sleep off any of the lasting effects her body was feeling.

* * *

Questioning himself more and more with every step, he continued moving around the perimeter of the Xavier mansion until he found the spot he was looking for. He wasn't as familiar with the spot as he'd become with her old room, but had made his way there enough recently he didn't need to think too hard to find the right location. Her tree outside her old room was a spot he could find blindfolded at this point and luckily it still helped him now. It was a spot he had increasingly and uncomfortably grown familiar with each week even before officially meeting her.

Her new room took a bit more work and luck. He could vault over from the same old tree and climb from balcony to balcony as long as no one was awake, so the approach was at least the same. He shook his head at himself. It was well past midnight so even if someone _was _awake he knew he could sneak past no worries. This wasn't sneaking around the Thieves' base or around the Assassin's stronghold-no one was going to come close to catching him, especially considering it was near two in the morning at this point.

He remembered the first time he'd ventured this far-come this close to her outside of battle or teasing her in her school parking lot while he wrangled the Brotherhood boys to go free Quicksilver. To be honest, he wasn't really quite sure why he'd started watching her so closely so often in the first place. He usually just blew it off as a sense of familiarity and curiosity, but when he'd really sat down and thought about it, he'd known it was because she was just so damned lonely. Everyone let her push them away eventually but she couldn't push away what she didn't know was there, he'd mused.

All the same, he felt the same weight in his chest tonight as he had the first night he'd rushed to her room, although this time the weight hit differently-made him ache with deeper pain. The first time had been simple enough. He hadn't been part of the problem. He'd heard Mystique had been up to something and had immediately known it was Rogue. It wasn't common knowledge Rogue was her daughter yet (at least he hadn't known), but the woman was obsessed with Rogue so it hadn't been too hard to guess and that night he hadn't been able to get to the X Mansion quick enough, refusing to think about why he even cared.

Easily bypassing all the security measures, he'd taken a moment to muse to himself that with the amount of trouble the school attracted, they really should fix that. Tonight he noticed the security was better, although not by much. Not by near enough if he could still get in this easily. Not many matched his level of skill, but if it was even possible For him to break in, there was a weakness in the system.

He vaulted up the tree and climbed over to the branch he'd taken up residence on for too many hours to count at this point. He had usually stopped there when he had the desire to check in on her, just watching her window from afar. Although he wouldn't be tonight just like he hadn't that night.

He stared at her old room for a minute. He'd remembered thinking, the first night he'd gone past the branch, how ridiculous the whole thing was. He did not need to be checking on some girl on the other team he'd interacted with maybe twice. He did not need to make sure she was going to be okay or that she had someone with her. He did not need to confirm for himself that she was (mostly) unharmed.

Still, he'd found himself edging closer to the end of the branch, peering into her window and hoping to catch a glimpse of her. The lights had been off by then, he remembered, and all had seemed quiet, but he couldn't quite _see _her around the wall blocking her bed from his view and suddenly his body had started moving before he could think things through. That night he'd gone past the barrier he'd unconsciously created for himself as he crawled forward on the branch, silently jumping across to her balcony, berating himself the whole time. Why did he care at all, let alone this much?

He remembered he could see Rogue asleep on her bed and, as luck would have it, no roommate sleeping in the bed across the room. Again, the logical side of his brain had tried to question what he was doing and why he had even cared, yet also again he'd ignored that logic, reaching for the handle to her balcony doors. It had been unlocked, he remembered (and frowned. _That _wasn't safe). He'd hesitated only slightly before turning the door handle a little more, trying to understand what possessed him to be checking on this girl.

They'd met face to face once before and he almost blew her hand off (sort of). Then the other time in her school yard. That was it. Sure he'd kept watch over her from time to time (more than the other X men, he was brave enough to admit to himself), but he shouldn't have been there checking in on her by his own accord.

Sure, he'd been keeping watch over her and her team for several months, but he'd done many jobs like that over the years and never once had he cared enough to check in on the safety or well-being of any of those people. Hell, he'd been watching her teammates just as long and he wasn't checking in on them. Just her. He couldn't fathom why Rogue was different, he just knew she was.

He had been so shocked that night to finally recognize (as he'd stood there like an idiot and just stared at her) that he wasn't _just _feeling curiosity or intrigued by her anymore. He had been worried. Actually worried. For her. He'd wanted her to be safe. He'd wanted her to not have to be constantly alone or to have people constantly harp on how useful her powers were (feelings he knew all too well). Most shockingly of all, he'd wanted her protected, and he had hated that he was starting to suspect he might want himself to be the one to protect her.

He remembered vividly then turning his attentions outward and looking at Rogue. Really looking at her.

She'd been breathing slowly, her hair pulled back from her face and her body curled into itself. She'd looked so small and fragile, he'd felt frozen in the moment just staring at her with his hand on the door handle. She didn't seem necessarily troubled in her sleep that time. He'd seen her wake up screaming from his branch enough that he'd developed the unfortunate pattern of not being able to leave on those nights until she'd finally found sleep (crying herself there or not) just so she wouldn't be alone. But while she didn't seem troubled that night, even in sleep the exhaustion had been clear on her face.

Even without her makeup she'd looked so incredibly pale. The other big difference, he'd realized, was that without her makeup on he could see the dark circles under her eyes clearly (and a completely adorable splash of freckles across her nose). She had been okay, at least. Maybe a little worse for the wear, but she always managed to move past that, he'd learned. In that moment, a weight had lifted from his chest that he hadn't even realized was there. It had unnerved him, but even worse he'd realized in that moment that pretty much everything about her unnerved him and he kept being drawn to her anyway.

That night he'd slowly taken a deep breath before carefully turning the door handle. He'd quickly reached his hand in the door crack and found the locking mechanism before turning it and snaking his hand back out to shut the door behind him. Logically, he'd been aware the lock wouldn't do much to keep him out, nor anyone who shared his skill set, but it had made him feel like she was a little bit safer and protected (even though the troubles she had were from something in her head and her powers-something no one could save her from but herself) as he'd turned to jump back to the safety his tree branch and head to the base, not allowing himself to stay any longer or he might have found himself actually in her room.

Tonight, for the second time taking this exact route (hopping balcony to balcony when he'd stayed at the mansion didn't really count as the same thing, in his opinion), he hopped off the branch and onto her old balcony, feet landing silently before quickly hopping to the next one and the next as he followed his path, climbing up a floor level where he found an opening to do so and continuing on his way to her new room.

He landed on her balcony porch, regret heavy in his stomach. If he hadn't been such an asshole maybe she wouldn't have gotten this hurt. Maybe he could have gotten her out of there, away from the fight, quick enough that he wouldn't have to continue to give away how desperate he was to keep her out of the Marauder's (and their shared employer's) grasp.

He reached for her balcony door, frowning a little to himself to find it still unlocked. He made a mental note to talk to her about that (especially now that she was in a room all by herself) as he let himself in. He couldn't let her be alone, although he was fully aware she might wake up and kick his ass for being there. He knew she was still pissed at him. In this situation, she had every right. He'd been so damn worried about her, he'd let his own issues with how the X Men run things and how Summers treated her, mess everything up.

He wanted to say he couldn't help it, but he needed to be able to at this point. Maybe Summers had changed in the time since Remy had been watching over their team. Maybe he felt bad for trying to push Rogue to use her powers (unlikely, considering his recent actions). Maybe he wasn't that kid he'd seen in a parking lot a year ago bitching to Jean about how Rogue needed to suck it up and just use her powers for the team and how useful she could be if she just listened to him-an event that had, for lack of a better phrase, firmly cemented Remy's general dislike for Scott. Maybe it was the word useful and how many times he'd heard it about himself, or maybe it was just that he saw Scott was becoming more worried about being a good team leader than he was about his team. Maybe Rogue was right about Scott. And maybe it wasn't his business to push her about it in the first place, not when he knew it was a touchy subject anyway.

She looked just as small and fragile as the last time he'd been in this position, but a whole hell of a lot better than when he'd last seen her, having to leave her with Cyclops and swallow all his resentment towards the guy in the process. The soft splatter of freckles still stood out to him even from afar, from cheek to cheek across her nose, as did the bright pink of her lips. He liked them with lipstick on, but when he looked at how pink her lips were without makeup he couldn't stop the thought that she would manage to be beautiful whatever she chose with her styling.

She still had a giant bruise on her forehead. Even with Wolverine's powers, that still remained, bringing back the sinking feeling in his gut. He'd known how bad the wound had initially looked-he'd heard the crack of her head against the wall, so loud he'd been actually scared to turn and look at her. Luckily when he had, there was blood and bruising, but nothing like what he'd feared in that second when he heard how hard her head hit.

He sat down on his knees in front of the bed as he looked at her, almost feeling out of his own body, and gently swept her hair away from her eyes, a motion he'd become all too familiar and comfortable with doing.

In a way, feeling the softness of her hair thread through his fingers was a comfort. He liked watching the quick blush it brought out in her, liked being able to see her eyes without her bangs intruding. He liked getting to run his fingers carefully over her earrings as he tucked the hair behind her ears. Most of all, he liked that she let him do it. She might flinch a little still, but she still had been comfortable enough to let him touch her that way. He wondered if she ever would again after that stupid fight.

He sighed and sat himself down with his back to her bed, settling himself in and hoping he wasn't about to get punched in the face when she awoke.

* * *

When she awoke, it took her a minute to remember why her head was killing her. She probably should have listened to Hank and just taken the damn pain killers. She moved to lean up on her elbow, gingerly rubbing her eyes and turned on her bedside lamp, only to jump and almost squeak.

Even asleep, she wasn't about to give him that satisfaction.

Remy was sitting next to her bed, his back against it and his head bowed like he hadn't actually intended to fall asleep, bo staff extended over his shoulder while his arms rested on his knees. What was he even doing here? She watched him for a moment-he couldn't be comfortable sitting like that.

She tried to sit up, but stopped mid motion, wincing audibly and before she was over the sharp pain her head had just hit her with, she could hear Remy scrambling to stand up, resting his knee on the bed as he leaned down to her.

She tried to wave him off, confused by the whiplash of their fight at school until now. Whether he'd been trying to help her in the battle today or not, the change had not been gradual enough for this to make sense to her. "I'm fine."

He snorted. "That's why y' look like y' gonna puke."

"I do not. I just happen to be tryin' out a green foundation."

"It's _beautiful_, _ma chère_," he said distractedly, helping her move to sit back against her backboard.

"Well it is all the rage these days."

"I can see why. Y' look truely ravagin', _chérie_."

It was her turn to snort. "What happened to bein' pissed at me?" Maybe a little too direct.

She heard him sigh heavily, and she couldn't help but think he looked a little like a lost puppy. She huffed a little in frustration, not knowing what to do really, before patting the bed next to her hips and then promptly finding the way her crossed arms looked very interesting. He sat down almost immediately letting out a frustrated puff of air as well. "Look, I'm bad at this."

She looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

He frowned and looked away from her before meeting her eyes again, the look in his eyes making her heart thud.

"I never...had a friend like this b'fore."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"Yes, right," he said using the covered part of his palm to turn her face back to his as he continued to speak gently. "Not an actual friend. Not one who I trust. Not one who I actually...care about."

She frowned at the bedside table, not able to bring herself to meet his eyes, even if his hand still gently held her chin facing his own.

"This's all new f' me, _chère_. Don't know how t'handle having' something...real like this in m' life."

Slowly, she looked into his eyes, not sure what to make of that, but also not able to refuse looking at him now that she'd heard how open he was trying to be, how earnest his frustration was in his voice.

"Don't know how t' tell y' the right words, 'specially when I'm mad."

"Doesn't mean you get to yell at me about it." She tried to say it gently, truly, but she hated those words as soon as she said them anyway as well as the way his eyes saddened when she did so.

"I know that, _chère_. I do," his fingers threaded into her hair, slowly playing with the strands as he watched her carefully. "I jus' got so mad they weren't takin' it serious, 'specially after all I told them. I couldn't believe they sent y' t' school knowing the Marauders knew about y' and I couldn't believe they did all that _an'_ kept y' in the dark."

"What was I supposed to do in my situation?" Again, she put every effort into gentling her voice, not trying to make this harder, but not willing to stifle her own frustrations completely.

He dropped his hand from her hair slowly to the bed, choosing to lean on it as he looked off to the side. "I jus'," he took a deep breath and then looked back to her. "I jus' wanted y' t' be able t' trust me. 'Specially since y' team leaders apparently weren't trustin' y' t' be able to handle this shit." She was very careful to not let on any reaction, knowing he would be scrutinizing her every move. Unfortunately, he seemed to take her silence the wrong way. "I know I don't have the right t' that, an' rightly so. I jus'...wish I did."

She didn't know how to respond to that, words continuing to fail her. He sighed again, frustratedly running his free hand over his face. "Like I said. I don't have the right t' ask that of y' yet. This is just all so new, _chère_. T' actually care. An' I don't get it but it don't change that I do." His eyes met hers again, looking entirely fragile and confused and altogether like the same look she'd felt far too many times before. It was so unlike him, yet completely like him at the same time. "Y' important." He stopped and started again, his voice more confident this time. "Y' important t' me, _chérie_, an' I saw y' in danger an' instead of actually talkin' t' y', I panicked an' took it all out on y'. An' I shouldn't've."

She'd known that maybe having a friendship wasn't exactly normal for him, but she hadn't expected him to actually feel as out of his depth as she did. She'd had decent friendships with Kitty and Kurt (with all her teammates really) but even if she'd had a good grasp on those friendships she still felt like none of that was anything compared to her friendship with Remy. So far she'd chalked it up to him technically being the first friendship she'd had outside of family, but now she was realizing she might be the same for him and maybe it went past that, somehow.

Finally (_finally_) she found her voice, trying to stay confident enough to hold his eye contact without looking away. "You're not alone there, Swamp Rat." He smiled at her, a small smile but a smile all the same, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I didn't exactly react well."

"Hard to when y' being screamed at."

"You don't get to take all the blame, Cajun. Share some with the class." She smiled at him, small and unsure, and was comforted when he actually smiled back at her a little more this time, giving her voice a little more strength. "I ain't exactly happy with how it went down, but you're not either. Still don't fully know why you're upset, but...I'd like to understand. If you help me."

Remy crawled over her to sit his back against the backboard, confusing her. What the hell was he - oh. His hand was held out to her, completely gloveless. He'd moved over in case he passed out from her powers. Because he wanted her to -

"'M not good at explainin', but I want y' t' know the truth. I want y' t' be able to trust this."

She hesitated a moment before reaching out, watching him carefully, shocked to see no hesitation or flinching, and used her sheets to cover her hands before taking his bare hand between both of hers.

"No."

She took a deep breath and continued on before he could misinterpret, something he was already rapidly doing if the deflated look on his face was any indicator. She gently squeezed her hands around his, still not entirely comfortable with the fact that she'd reached out to touch him this time instead of the other way around, before speaking, watching his eyes carefully as she did so.

"The Professor might not tell me everythin' and you might not be _able _to tell me evethin', but you don't need to do that to tell me."

He blinked at her, his face openly showing not just confusion, but concern over what she was about to say. Like he couldn't predict her right now. She wondered vaguely how much easier life would be if both of them could try to be this open every once in a while and not just after a gigantic fight. Unrealistic, really, given all their baggage, but it _was _helpful to be able to actually guess what he was thinking at that moment.

"I don't need to use my powers to trust you."

When he didn't respond, just sat there staring at her, she almost continued on, trying to find a way to rephrase, but luckily he beat her to it.

"So...y' jus' gonna...choose t' trust me?"

She wanted to laugh at the disbelieving look on his face, mostly because she would feel the same exact way were the situations reversed. After everything they'd been through, it wasn't like they had a great history for her to base that decision off of or great individual histories with trusting people either. It just...felt right to try, especially when he'd just made a huge effort to be almost completely transparent with her multiple ways just now, something she knew he regularly avoided at all costs. The last thing she wanted was to undermine that with gaining artificial trust in him through her powers. She settled on smiling at him a little (as much as the nervous energy in her stomach would allow).

"Trust with a healthy amount of suspicion make you feel better?"

He nodded slowly, still mulling that over, she guessed, and looked off to the side for a minute before looking back at her again, eyes meeting for what felt like the twentieth time in the last minute. "Why?"

She shrugged, trying not to get lost in his eyes or the warmth suddenly growing there. "We wanna be friends the right way, right?" He nodded again, still watching her closely. "Do you really wanna spend all your time unconscious because the only way I can trust you is with my powers?"

"How'd y' do it wit' the X men? Trust them, that is."

"Just...day by day, I guess. People always slip up and show you who they are. Even Mystique did."

"Helps t' stick around f' that, huh," he said, a self deprecating tone overtaking him.

She flushed. "I shouldn't have said any of that. I was being an asshole."

He smiled at her again, comforting while still managing to have an air of humor behind it, and she found herself flushing again although in an entirely different way. "If y' were an asshole, I was at least three." She felt his thumb rub against her hand through the sheets and she looked down, trying to hide the blush she knew was on her cheeks. She froze as she looked down, then wanted to punch herself as she did so: the gloves had obviously been there to prevent him from needing to talk about it.

The parts of his hands that usually had gloves on them were _covered _in scars. Everywhere. Like…

...Like he'd blown something up and not let go of it on time. Many times. Gently, she traced over the lines on his hand through her sheets. It was like the scars on his torso and back- some looked old, but some looked to still be healing, or at least newer.

"Didn't always have control over m' power," he said softly, apparently not surprised at all what had drawn her focus. She looked up, still lightly tracing her fingers over his hand as she did so. The look on his face was calm and understanding. "Took me a while t' be able t' touch anyone, anything, when m' powers firs' started, but it happened." '_and it'll happen for you too'_ were his unspoken words. He looked down at his hand, resting between hers, and she followed suit. He snorted softly. "Don't have as good of control lately either."

"Is that what happened with the pinkish charge today?"

He looked up at her, doing a double take as if tearing his eyes away from their hands.

"The one that blew a hole in the floor." He nodded, jaw tight. She hummed, almost a laugh. "You _do_ go easy on me, don't you?"

He shrugged, trying to save her pride probably. Not that she needed it. She might not have understood why, but she had always kind of guessed after she saw his first real explosion and the damage it did. Anytime she'd fought him, from the first card he handed her, it had never been the same level of damage. Figuring out the colors of the charges and how the yellow turned into gold (and now the magenta she'd seen twice) and corresponded to the strength of the charge had mostly been a hypothesis up until now. The darker the charge, the more power it packed. She'd never seen the pink until just recently though. She wondered if that was just part of his powers growing, or if he was having trouble controlling a growth in his powers (if the scars on his hands were any indication) for a different reason.

"Yeah, well. I know what m' powers can do," he said, pulling his glove back on and leaning back against the headboard with her, bumping her shoulder with his in the process. Her hands felt weirdly cold with his hand gone. "Y' were the mos' interestin' part of m' job. Wasn't exactly about t' maim y' permanently for no reason,"

She rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder back. "Oh geeze, thanks, Remy."

They both froze and she snuck a peek over at him. He was smiling at her; his real, full smile she'd only seen a few times. He'd smiled at her genuinely before, she thought, but there was a difference between a smile and a huge smile that overtook his face, making him look younger, even more handsome, and completely carefree.

She blushed, trying to play it calm, even though he clearly didn't care to-staring at her with that weird look in his eyes like he didn't have a care in the world. "What?"

"Nothin'," he answered, still smiling, and put his arm around her shoulders, like it was no big deal. She liked how his voice sounded when he had to speak through a smile, she found. She wasn't sure if it was how tired she was or what, but the sudden feeling of calm around them made her feel like she was floating. She sighed, feeling actually content for the first time in a while, and let her head lean back a little, only to come in contact with Remy's very warm, very firm shoulder.

He immediately reacted, apparently thinking she would jump away like she was shocked. She was about to (so he was probably right in that line of thought) but she still was surprised when she felt him pull her into his side a little more snug and leaned his cheek against her hair softly, giving her enough space to pull away if she wanted, but also letting her know where he wanted her.

Was he ever anything but confident? Was his disregard for self preservation that high? Did nothing phase him? Yeah, his neck was covered from his uniform, but if she just shifted slightly he could instantly be knocked out at the minimum. She let out a long exhale, trying to be silent about her need to calm down. Honestly, she wasn't sure if her anxiety levels were growing so fast that she actually felt calm, or if she was literally just calming down from being so close to him.

She'd had just enough time to start panicking (and then to start deciding if it was safe enough to be so close to Remy) when he started talking again. She probably should pull away, but a selfish part of her wanted to stay right where she was. She didn't want to upset the balance they'd just reached by pulling away again and she also wanted to for once let herself enjoy being held. Sure Kitty or Kurt touched her occasionally, but no one had held her like Remy was apparently working to make a habit of.

He never even hesitated. She knew he always kept them both safe with the same awareness of her powers that she had to live with day in and day out, but she never felt like it was a burden or a bother for him to keep in mind like she did with others. If he wanted to take the risk and touch her as often as he did, shouldn't she be okay letting him make that decision for himself when she wanted to let him continue on so much? Would it really hurt that much to try to trust everything could be okay and he wouldn't let her hurt him?

She wasn't sure how long she could have sat there, feeling like a complete goof just sitting next to him (his arm still around her shoulders), smiling. Her face felt so hot and although the need to run away from letting anyone see her emoting was strong, even stronger was her curiosity over what might happen next. But then she yawned.

He chuckled. "Sounds like it's time f' m' girl t' get some sleep."

She frowned a little, deciding she liked it that he couldn't watch her face so closely when her head was on his shoulder. "Not yet," she said. A little quieter, she finished, yawning again. "We haven't gotten to talk for a week." She wondered if her face could physically blush anymore when she felt him smile against the top of her head. "Might need to find some food so I can take the pain killers Hank gave me, though."

He nodded softly and the slight pressure to the top of her head was a relief from the headache she felt building.

"Y' don't got school t'morrow?" he asked, a carefully neutral tone in his voice.

"Hank says he'll wake me up and see how I feel. He said I should stay home though."

"Then y' should stay home."

She didn't answer immediately, choosing to pick at her comforter instead.

"I guess I'd have a lot of homework to do before then if I did go."

"Plus...it's safer here," he said softly.

"I know these guys are a big deal, but I can't just start skippin' school every time things get bad," she said, carefully tilting her head up towards him to watch his face while trying to also let him keep his head resting on hers. "Never gonna graduate that way, and I'm not sure I'd be good at gettin' a GED." she tried to joke.

He sighed, clearly trying to find the right words. "How 'bout y' start y' homework and see how y' feelin'?" It was a giant leap for him, in contrast to the level of upset he'd had last week, and she appreciated the amount of effort he was putting into making a different choice all the same.

"If I do go, are you going to disrupt your life to wait at the school while I'm there?"

He snorted, but that was as close to an answer she was apparently going to get.

"You can't stop everything just to watch out for me, Swamp Rat."

He shifted and grinned, looking directly at her. It was really hard to not smile back when he was looking at her like that. "Oh no. Y' don't get t' go back t' 'Swamp Rat' now, _chérie_."

"B-I-w-it's what I call you!" she stuttered out, indignant.

He laughed. "And now y' call m' 'Remy' too. Tough shit, _chère_."

She frowned and wrinkled her nose, deciding to strike back in the only way she knew how. "Hey, _Swamp Rat_, Why do you call me '_chère' _sometimes and '_chérie' _others?" she wasn't too familiar with either term's technical definition, but she was smart enough to know there had to b_e some_ difference, even if it was as small as the difference between her calling him 'Cajun' and 'Swamp Rat'.

He hadn't been expecting that, clearly. He covered well though and mostly ignored her question when he responded (outside of laughing again) and hopped over her to get off the bed. "Get out y' homework and I'll go get y' some food. Be back quick."

And he was out the door, silent and quick like a cat on the hunt. She laughed a little to herself before getting up to go grab her bag. She'd known how much less fun life was the last week without him, but feeling the difference made it even more obvious. They weren't perfect, hadn't ironed everything out (probably never would), but damn, it just felt good to have her friend back.

* * *

Remy LeBeau, exact age unknown, had never in his life felt nervous to put his damn arm around a girl. Until that night it was. It was ridiculous that something he'd done so many times before (hundreds of times probably) had suddenly become so new and nerve wracking. He'd put his arm around the same girl just over a week ago and suddenly tonight, sitting on her bed with her big eyes looking up at him, so wide and _trusting_, it had felt like his heart was a hummingbird, hammering away as fast as it could.

He made his way to the kitchen quickly, keeping a careful ear out for Wolverine (or the little one) along the way. They were hopefully asleep by now, but he knew the second he his guard was done one of them would be right up on his ass.

He should not be marvelling over this. How many women had he put his arm around? Or kissed, or felt, or...But she'd _let _him do it and somehow it meant more than any of that. Fuck she hadn't just let him, she'd leaned her head back and let him rest his head on hers. And her hands...she'd traced the scars on his hands so gently with no disgust or awkward questions or anything. Just worry. He wouldn't have expected anything else from her, really, but still her reaction was different than anyone else's so far.

He entered the kitchen quickly, opening the fridge to grab a soda and placing it on the counter before looking back inside for what food he should grab her.

"She likes Cola, not Pepsi."

Remy turned quickly. Ah, the Red Head. She lowered herself to the ground, making sense now why she'd been able to sneak up on him-she'd been floating.

"Thanks," he said, a little begrudgingly that he had to admit to not knowing that. "Any idea what food she'd like best?"

"I know her favorite sandwich. I can show you if you'd like."

Jean didn't wait for his answer, just telekinetically pulled items from the fridge, as well as a knife from a nearby drawer and bread from the counter. He nodded although it was pretty useless to do so by this point, but remained quiet, watching her. Jean was one of the X men he didn't have a lot of extra knowledge about. She'd been a pretty predictable member of the team to watch back when he'd been spying on the team. Pretty though she was, she hadn't held his attention for very long at all-just enough to report a few things to Magneto and turn his attention to more puzzling X men.

"I'm glad you guys made up."

Remy didn't respond, not liking the idea of how obvious it was to her.

"I know she missed you. Even if she was pissed off."

He frowned. "Oh, yeah? How'd y' know that?"

Jean shrugged. "Watching her. She got extra quiet again. It was almost like how she was before you kidnapped her and whisked her away to New Orleans."

"She was different after?"

Jean smiled. "Subtly, but yeah. She was much better. More herself."

"Guess it's good I actually helped her," he said absently, leaning forward onto the counter and watching Jean's motions closely as she made the sandwich. He frowned again. "Thought she told you guys I didn't…" _kidnap her_, he tried to say. He couldn't bring himself to repeat it. Rogue had given him too much credit.

"She _did_ tell everyone it wasn't a kidnapping," Jean said, watching him closely.

"But not you?" Jean looked down at the sandwich, avoiding looking at him as she shook her head.

"You two ain't exactly best friends," he said, eyes narrowed on the red head. "How'd you get the full story? Cyke? Wolverine?"

Jean shook her head again and had the good grace to look a little ashamed.

"Y' read her mind," he said, suspicion as good as confirmed.

"I did."

His eyes narrowed, a full on glare in effect. "Don't y' Professor have some kinda rule 'bout that?"

Jean blushed, still looking quite ashamed of herself. "He does."

"But y' still read Rogue's mind."

"...Accidentally."

Remy scoffed. "How do y' _accidentally _read someone's mind?"

Jean frowned back at him, frustration evident on her face and voice defensive. "She was thinking about it very loudly. Kind of hard not to hear sometimes."

"Is it jus' as hard t' _not _listen?" He knew he was visibly irritated at Jean, but Rogue had so little privacy in her own brain anyway. He didn't like the idea of anyone invading that, let alone a team member.

Jean ripped open the packet of lunch meat with a little too much strength. "Sometimes." She got quiet and then spoke again. "When the person's next to me and pretty focused on something...it's like trying to ignore a shouting match."

"So, basically don't think too hard around y'," he said dryly.

"Well. _You _don't have to worry."

He raised an eyebrow at her, unsure where she was going with his.

She paused. "There's some sort of static interference every time I try, or something."

Now that was interesting information to file away for later. Partially, Remy was relieved. No one needed to know his business, and no one would want to be around him if they knew. But he also wondered if there was maybe something wrong with him: if more had changed in him than he'd already figured out

"Always been like that?" He asked, his voice the picture of casual indifference and general curiosity.

Jean nodded. "I can't pick up much from you. Never have been able to."

That was good.

"What's 'much' entail?"

"Well. Right now I can't hear too much specific from your actual thoughts, but I can hear enough to know your annoyance is less about privacy invasion in general and more about feeling protective of Rogue's privacy." She paused, then looked at him, a curious expression on her face before she continued on. "And you're upset that I said you kidnapped her because you're worried that's how she thought of it."

He stared at her, not quite sure how to rebuttal. "All of that ain't 'too much'?"

"I mean, to be fair, I didn't need to read your mind to know you got pissed about Rogue's thoughts being violated. Even coming off what I gather is a huge blow out fight, I get the feeling if it was someone else you'd be uncomfortable, but because it's Rogue and she's important to you, you'd be upset about me reading her mind even if you guys were still fighting." She stopped for a second, watching his face. He made sure he gave her nothing to go off of. "I heard pissed thoughts and I heard the sadness and guilt once I mentioned the word kidnapping. Most of the rest of it was educated guesses or confirming what I was already assuming."

He frowned. Was his soft spot for Rogue really that obvious? "Those college psych classes paying off, huh?"

She snorted. "We haven't gotten to that chapter yet."

"Ah, so y' read ahead," he said, trying to steer the conversation away from his brain and his friendship with Rogue. He didn't need Jean trying to figure him out, just as much as he didn't like her reading Rogue's mind without her knowing.

"No, but it's easy enough to figure out if someone just takes five seconds to really watch you around Rogue. You're always helping her. Like when Bobby ditched her with the Sentinels. You didn't have to stay there, but you did. Scott might not see it yet, but I do."

Remy narrowed his eyes, not liking that answer but curious where she was going with this. All the same he couldn't stop himself from feeling like he was falling into a trap as he defended both his actions and Rogue. "She don't need help. She ain't a kid and I ain't her babysitter."

She sighed. "Oh come on, Gambit, you know that's not what I meant. Maybe 'looking out for her' was a better way to say that, but it's six one way, half a dozen the other." Jean rolled her eyes when he didn't answer and looked at him knowingly. "It's not _bad_, it's _sweet_. Rogue needs a friend who she cares about and can actually trust. Like _really _trust. With _everything_. She has so many people here who love her, but I'm not quite sure she trusts them like she trusts you. She's not a kid and you're not watching out for her like a guardian-that's completely obvious. You're being her _friend_. That's what good friends do-they love and support each other no matter what."

Remy's eyes flickered down, trying to hide the slight stutter he felt in his chest at the connection between the words 'Rogue' and 'love' in the same sentence. He didn't need to think about that flutter and he certainly didn't need the apparently _extra _intuitive telepath noticing either.

Remy Lebeau did not love. He was not capable. Friendship, sure, he was beginning to believe he could actually do justice to that with Rogue. But she deserved better than what his 'love' had brought to others. He wouldn't do that to her.

Try as he might, he'd never actually found a love he couldn't let go of. Rogue was different than love. She was something he didn't actually want to let go of. He'd long ago accepted that everything was temporary, but was slowly becoming okay with the thought that kept plaguing his mind: if Rogue _had _to be temporary for him like everyone and everything else, he hoped she was at least a long temporary.

But there was that word again. Trust. Rogue had said it too, but it was incredibly hard to imagine trusting himself if he were in her situation. Hard to believe she'd said it, let alone that she was open to it with him. The thing that worried him the most, perhaps, was that with Rogue he knew it wasn't naivete guiding her decision. She'd put thought behind deeming him worthy of her trust.

"Kind of hard for her t' really trust me if she still thinks of me as the guy who kidnapped her. Even if she didn't say it outloud," he said softly, unable to stop the words from flying out of his mouth. There was a lot of that going around tonight-with Rogue he'd accept it as necessary to apologize correctly, but it was extra weird saying what he was thinking to Jean.

Jean smiled as she finished making the sandwich, moving to retrieve a plate to put it on. "She does though. Trust you. I don't need to be Kitty or Kurt and be around her all the time to know that. Even if we don't talk as much, I know her well enough to see it." When he didn't respond, she continued on, sounding a little defensive again. "She's important to me just like she is to you...even if she's _more _important to you. But I know she trusts you. And if she ever falters in that, she at least wants to."

He looked up slightly, unsure if he should believe Jean, but also realizing despite the surface level friendship he'd assumed Rogue and Jean still had, it went deeper than he'd known. He kind of liked that Jean and Rogue seemed to be better friends, just like he was happy to find she'd grown closer to Kitty as well.

"Really," Jean continued on softly. "She does. I just put two and two together and figured out it was a kidnapping. I shouldn't have said it that way. Honestly she was avoiding calling it anything at that point, even to herself."

"Musta been thinking about it that way in the end, though. Can't add things up wit' no numbers in the first place."

Jean paused for a second, looking for the words she wanted and choosing them carefully. "She was thinking about that part of the 'trip', but I promise she wasn't thinking about it that way. She was more...trying to figure _you _out, I think."

Remy hummed, taking that in as well as the plate and soda from Jean with a nod of thanks.

"Anyway. Logan's still in the garage so your window to get back up to her is larger than normal, but I'd still be quick about getting back upstairs if you're wanting to stay for a while longer. Logan'll start smelling you if you stay down here and since I'm pretty sure you didn't exactly come through the front doors, I'd say lingering might be a bad call."

With that, she grabbed a soda of her own and walked out of the kitchen, leaving him to his thoughts. It didn't feel good, Jean being able to read his friendship with Rogue so well. The implication of it being easy to tell Rogue was important to him scared him-it was bad enough knowing he had no idea how to be a friend, but he knew being his friend put an even bigger target on Rogue's back. If Jean, someone he'd never considered close to Rogue, could figure so much out, what did other people know? Way to be subtle and play things cool, he thought, snorting at himself in frustration.

He wasn't sure what to do about it. Rogue seemed to be the exception to every carefully laid out rule in his life as well as the exception to rules he hadn't even known he'd had, despite his best efforts from the start. At the same time and outside of his safety concerns, he found himself struggling to care if people around him could see how he was with Rogue. He didn't think he wanted to be capable of changing that just to keep up his air of nonchalance about everything.

He opened her door slowly, allowing a smile when he saw her, clearly exhausted, sitting on the floor with her back against the bed, nose buried in her school books. He wouldn't have pegged her as the kind to place so much importance in graduating, but he guessed he could see where she was coming from. She'd done school this long-not finishing probably felt like a cop out. Beyond that, he knew she probably just didn't want X men drama (and by extension her powers) to take something else away from her.

"Someone order room service?"

She looked up and smiled at him, exhaustion clear but cheeks still just as rosy as when he'd left. She took the sandwich and soda from him without comment outside of a grateful smile and began eating while he grabbed her french worksheet. Doing his best to put some effort into his handwriting, he grabbed her pencil, filling it out quickly, despite her protests.

"How'm I supposed to learn if you do my homework for me?" She asked, exasperated.

He chuckled, trying to hide the thought that maybe that was a good thing. If she never studied her French, she might not catch all the slips of the tongue he'd made around her. Asking him the difference between '_chère' _and '_chérie' _would only be the beginning of him avoiding explaining french terms of endearment to her. It was better left unexplained, although he knew she'd only asked to get him off her back about calling him by his actual name. By the time he'd finished, she was also done eating and grabbed a bottle of pills from her nightstand.

He watched her, the way the light of her lamp illuminated her hair and how strong her bare arms looked, as she took the pills and put the bottle back where it'd been before settling back next to him a little closer than before.

"How much else y' got, _chérie_?"

She leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling as she thought. "I think that's it, outside of reading. Not sure my head can handle that right now. I got most of it done when I hung out with Pete and Kitty the other day." She turned to look at him and he couldn't resist, yet again, reaching over to brush her hair out of her face, letting his fingers trail along her earrings as he finished the motion.

She smiled softly, probably unaware she'd even done so, and he took the opportunity to put his other arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him a little more snug this time while he carefully avoided her skin. The last thing he wanted was to make all this progress with casual touching tonight only to lose it because he'd not considered her powers enough.

He ran the hand of the arm around her through her hair, not feeling the need to talk, just enjoying sitting there, feeling her lean into him, her head quickly finding his shoulder again. He leaned his cheek against her hair again, feeling a warmth unlike anything else before-it didn't burn through him like during their sparring match earlier (although that was a memory he was curious to look back on later-her hips rolling up against his over and over, completely unaware of what she was doing to him outside of trying to get out of his pin). Instead, it was like sunshine on a warm day, settled all around them.

"Time f' sleep?" He asked, keeping his voice quiet for her.

"Not yet," she said, just as before, yawning again and making him chuckle. She was cuddly when she was tired (at least he hoped it was a normal tired thing for her, not a pain killer thing). She turned her face into the crook of his neck (still covered by his uniform cowl), and he was unable to resist taking advantage of the moment and pulling her against him a little tighter, arm slipping down towards her waist as his other arm rested just above her ankles. Carefully watching her face for discomfort, he pulled her ankles over his lap and adjusted them once more to pull her closer, wondering how much more he intended to push his luck, but in the moment he couldn't stop himself from wanting to hold her as close to him as possible. His heart stuttered when he felt her hand gently rest against his chest, her hand fisting into his uniform to hold on.

"Hey, Remy?" Her voice was tired and adorably sounded like her mouth was squished against his chest (which it was). He hoped his heart hadn't thudded as loudly for her as it had for him when she'd said his name again.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." For what, he wasn't sure, but all the same he couldn't stop himself from sneaking a very soft half kiss to the top of her hair (trying to disguise it midaction), hopeful it wouldn't be the move that freaked her out.

"Anytime, _chérie_."

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he sat there just holding her, but after the week he'd had, he'd like to think that as long as she was okay with it, he had earned a moment of calm with her-just sitting there and knowing she was safe was enough to erase most of the exhaustion he felt from the past week. He'd hold her just a little longer, then he'd take off and let her sleep in peace.

He'd never had anything like this in his life, outside of maybe his brother and Tante Mattie, where he'd care to apologize and resolve shit. It had always sounded like such an arduous task when the person probably wouldn't forgive him in the long run anyway.

He ran his fingers through her hair, doing his best to be as careful as possible and wishing he'd thought before this about his gloves not being entirely fingerless. He needed to have bare fingers to use his powers, but it couldn't hurt to leave a few covered if he was going to continue to be around her so much. Her powers might not scare him, but they did still scare her. Might be smart to start covering more of his hands anyway: today had clearly shown that whatever they'd done to him, he was definitely not as in control of his powers as he'd used to be.

He pushed that thought aside and looked down at Rogue, smiling to himself. This friendship had been unavoidable from the start-a trajectory he'd been on since he first met her, had first found all their similarities. He'd definitely been uncomfortable with the entire concept, but he was finding at this moment he really didn't mind. Ever since New Orleans he had been minding less and less, he thought, especially when she'd come back for him then.

In this moment, holding her in his lap, gently threading his fingers through her hair, he was distinctly aware of how terrifying this whole situation was; being her friend, someone she could learn to trust. The friendship itself didn't worry him. Once their general stubbornness and rough edges were taken out of the equation, friendship with Rogue was easier than breathing. It wasn't that he was worried about the actual act of friendship as a concept either, just more acutely aware of what a friendship meant now and all the ways he could screw up having her in his life.

Somehow, through all of the ups and downs and back and forth, she had become important to him. Very important. Although he worried that she cut him slack where he didn't deserve it, he wanted to believe Jean was right and he'd become important to Rogue as well. Still, the idea of people knowing and seeing Rogue was important to him (that she felt safe around him) terrified him. Not only could he screw that up and hurt her very easily, but also the added danger it brought to her made him worry he shouldn't be worth it for her.

But despite being aware of all the ways he could mess up their friendship, he was also extremely aware he wasn't willing or able to back off and stay out of her life unless she asked. It was a first for him. He'd always been good at detaching himself and maintaining distance from everyone around him. It was easier that way and he'd always figured life was hard enough, so it was okay to take the easy path when he could. With Rogue though? He couldn't bring himself to create a barrier between them. He looked forward to seeing her, hearing things about her life, and to just being around her in general. He couldn't let that go and he wouldn't unless she asked or it was necessary to keep her safe.

Even knowing all the ways he could screw up, he couldn't bring himself to give up his best friend while simultaneously realizing he'd never had a good friend before, let alone a best friend, outside of his brother. He was way out of his depth here.

And he was so screwed.

"Least you left the door open," The sarcasm was palatable and since he probably knew without checking exactly what the expression on Wolvie's face was as he stood in the doorway he'd just opened, Remy took one more second to soak in how holding her so close felt before finally choosing to look up, still barely startled out of his thoughts as he met Wolverine's glare with an impassive glance. The older man stared down at him and Remy sighed, rolling his eyes, before standing, carefully picking Rogue up as he did so.

"Y' figure out if the Marauders were working alone t'day?" Remy asked as he set her down softly on her bed, careful to not move too fast and wake her.

"Depends. You askin' as an Acolyte?"

"Askin' as someone who's seen what they can do," he said gruffly as he pulled her sheets and comforter over her.

He heard Logan grunt and he looked back to the older man, waiting.

"You kept her safe today."

Remy nodded absently, looking back down at her. That might be as close to a thank you he'd ever get from Wolvie.

"Y' gonna heal her more?"

The older man watched him closely but Remy still couldn't get a read off of what he was thinking. "Tomorrow, Gumbo. For now it's past curfew."

"Wasn't aware visitors had a curfew."

"They do _now_, Gambit. Go home." Wolverine stopped for a second before continuing. "I'll be in touch, kid. We got some questions and I know you got answers."

Remy nodded. "Y' need t' upgrade y' security system."

"You offerin' to help?"

Remy shrugged walking towards her bedroom door. Wolverine pulled the door shut behind them and gestured towards the staircase.

Remy groaned to himself, hating how this feeling was so reminiscent of times when he'd been younger and caught out with Belle when he shouldn't be.

"Straight to the gates, Gumbo. We'll see you tomorrow."

Remy waved him off as he headed down the stairs, feeling slightly weird once he got outside about not having to dodge any of the security features as he left the campus to get to his bike.

Maybe tonight he'd get a little sleep, he mused to himself as he hopped on the bike and sped his way toward the highway to get to the base.

Hopefully.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed! I was really excited for the progress/growth this chapter would force them to admit to and I hope you guys liked their first big step together. Hopefully Remy wasn't too open, but considering he almost lost her twice that week and it's 2 am and he's so (unknowingly) smitten, I'm hoping it was natural. Hopefully the fluff helped as well after last chapter's plot and angst fest haha

In case anyone is curious, I definitely headcanon that Kurt has a different nickname/type of nickname for everyone. Rogue is Hummel (bumblebee) because people are scared of them but they're basically harmless and important. Kitty is any word he thinks of with an added diminutive (-chen) to make it cutesy. I was super excited to finally use it in this fic.

So far I think everyone's been good with longer sentences and stuff but if I ever write something and you don't know what it means/what I intended or you want me to start writing out translations I can. I just try to pick things easy to get in context clues that you can translate if you want. German I'm doing mostly from memory. French is mostly google translate and I'm not always as sure of haha

Anyway. I hope you guys have a great day and thank you so much for reading!


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